Make Way, Again, for The Must

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The proprietors of the popular wine bar The Must, which was shuttered in a bizarre property dispute in 2010, have signed a lease to reopen in a new Historic Core locale.

Coly Den Haan and Rachel Thomas signed a deal on Thursday to open The Must on the ground floor of The Jeffries, a recently opened apartment building at Winston and Los Angeles streets, they said.

The duo plans a $1 million build-out to essentially re-create their wine bar, which was a locals hangout popular for its Sunday night board game sessions. In addition to an eclectic food, wine and craft brew menu, The Must had quirky options like 40-ounce bottles of Colt 45 served in a paper bag with champagne flutes. 

“What we had worked, so we don’t want to reinvent the wheel too much,” Den Haan said.

The 2,800-square-foot space at The Jeffries is larger than the former location at Fifth and Spring streets that is now home to Onyx Lounge. It also includes a basement annex that will serve as a wine cellar and private tasting room for events, Thomas said.

Den Haan and Thomas have been planning to reopen the bar ever since they were forced out of the original space in a property dispute with former partners. Tensions reached a boil and ignited community anger when, at around 2:45 a.m. on July 3, 2010, movers began taking out stools, tables, refrigerators and at least $50,000 worth or merchandise.       

Den Haan and Thomas were not informed of the action and arrived the next day to find that the locks had been changed. 

The pair later launched the rooftop bar and restaurant Perch at the Pershing Square building at Fifth and Hill streets, but they were bought out in February. Property owner Jeffrey Fish now owns Perch, they said.

“Perch is a big bad beast,” Den Haan said. “It’s a lot to run and we were excited and happy that we did it, but our baby is The Must.”

They also opened Coly’s Stromboli in the same building. That is now closed.

An application for a liquor license for the new space is pending, they said. Barring any major snags in the entitlement process, Den Haan and Thomas said they expect to open in early 2013.

Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.