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Sep 02, 2023

Midnight's to take on storied bar spot with new tales

General Assignment Reporter BRATTLEBORO — Midnight's, a new bar set to open in November in the space previously home to The Mole's Eye, is the brainchild of owner Evangeline Rera. "I'm a happy camper

General Assignment Reporter

BRATTLEBORO — Midnight's, a new bar set to open in November in the space previously home to The Mole's Eye, is the brainchild of owner Evangeline Rera.

"I'm a happy camper and I hope everybody likes it," she said.

According to past reporting in the Reformer, The Mole's Eye was a "storied institution" from 1933 until the Brooks House fire in 2011. During that period, the bar was closed for about 16 months.

Rera, 35, said all of her friends share memories of The Mole's Eye.

"They were here the night of the Brooks House fire and they had to leave," she said. "When I got the keys and we all came in together, it was a very big moment for people. I could see the history on their faces, which was huge."

Rera grew up on Long Island and moved to the area about a decade ago. She went to woodworking school up north in Vermont. She visited Guilford with someone she was dating whose family lived in the community and liked it.

Afterwards, Rera set out to be a self-employed woodworker in Guilford.

"I've done pretty well for myself and gotten support that I wouldn't have gotten on Long Island," she said.

Her father owned a successful bar. He bought it when Rera was 8 years old then sold it when she was in her 20s.

"It's nice to jump back in that because I grew up in a place like this," she said. "So to grow old, for lack of a better word, in a place like this brings me a lot of joy."

Rera enjoys bars and gathering places. She called them "my bread and butter."

A big component of Midnight's involves being open until midnight every night of the week so restaurant and bar staff have a place to go after work or on their days off, Rera said. She also hopes to appeal to her peers in the theater community.

Working as a stage manager at Hooker-Dunham Theater, she said rehearsals get out at 10:30 p.m. then cast and crew want somewhere to hang out.

"The theater community doesn't really have a space," she said. "The large portion of the queer community doesn't have a space either, and it was time. I wanted a space to be in, and after years of talking about this space in particular, it all just worked out one month."

Having crunching some numbers, the plan seemed to make sense. Rera said she found support among people who know what they were talking about including engineer Bob Stevens, who redeveloped the Brooks House after the fire and is a principal of M&S Development.

"They've been very generous of me," Rera said.

Being a woodworker, Rera is excited by all the wood in the space.

"This is how it all came," she said. "This bar, as far as I know, has been here the whole time."

When water from firefighting efforts inundated the bar, some furnishings were taken out then reinstalled after the clean up.

Rera plans to build tables. She added chairs she bought off Facebook Marketplace. The woman selling them told Rera she met her husband at The Mole's Eye and offered them up for free but Rera said she paid her.

The plan is have cold beer, coffee, tea and locally made Italian pastries and cannolis. A back room, formerly a kitchen, will have darker lighting and music playing a little louder. Pinball and a pool table will be set up.

Bartenders will spin records. Rera brought her collection.

Bathrooms are coming soon.

"I have a plumber coming to put in all the fixtures," Rera said.

Rera and her friends are going to put up drywall and paint. Her boyfriend is making a cabinet console, like the one he made for the now shuttered Arkham, where games will be stored and can be played for free.

When Rera first moved here, she frequented Arkham and built community in the bar in the Harmony Lot.

"That was a good place," she said. "Another COVID loss unfortunately. That was a really hard day when Arkham closed."

Having a space to go and not drink alcohol also is important, Rera said. She wants to offer a place where someone can get coffee or iced tea, without feeling out of place.

"There's a huge sober community here," she said. "They want to be able to come in, get a nice tea and hang out with their friends."

Midnight's is inspired by Rera's dog, who died a couple of days after the bar was named. Her ashes are kept in an urn next to a photo of her behind the bar.

"She was honestly the best dog ever," Rera said. "She was just incredible. I would always bring her out with me."

Considering names with the dog in front of them, Rera joked with her boyfriend about using her name, Midnight. She came to see it as having a special meaning.

"She bridged the gap for everybody," Rera said, as her metalhead friends and theater friends would end up talking to each other by being with the dog. "I think that represents the spirit of this place."

Midnight was a Black Lab saved from a kill shelter in Texas and fostered by Lucky Lab Rescue, which has a drop off point in Brattleboro. She was adopted by Rera when the dog was 10.

General Assignment Reporter