By Michael Morain
When people step into the new cocktail bar and listening lounge that Billy Weathers plans to open Nov. 21 in the East Village, he wants them “to feel like they’re at home, just kicking back with friends.”
And they will — if their home happens to be swanky and their friends have exceptionally good taste in music, food and drinks. The place is cool.
Weathers is best known as a hip-hop artist, community organizer, founder and CEO of the B.Well Foundation and one of the Business Record’s Forty Under 40 honorees from 2022. But opening the Contrary, at 503 E. Locust, is a new kind of venture for him, so he enlisted advice from his extensive network of friends and East Village neighbors.
With help from Indie House Design, the former 503 Cocktail Lab & Tasting Room now has a more polished feel, with swanky lighting that casts a cozy glow over dark green and gray walls and the old tile floor. Farther back, in what Weathers calls the “conversation pit,” a massive J-shaped sofa in plush red velvet sits next to the DJ booth, where Charles Walker III (aka DJ cdisiac) will spin a mix of hip-hop, R&B, jazz and funk on Friday and Saturday nights.
During a walk-through earlier this week, Hasan Ahmed was back in the kitchen, tinkering with recipes for the short menu of seasonal nibbles and small plates, including a squash-based hummus, banh mi sandwich, chili crisp salmon, and chicken thighs rubbed with harissa.
The cocktails will change with the seasons, too, as they do at Weathers’ other favorite spots around town, including the Bartender’s Handshake and Hello, Marjorie. He admires unusual bars in other cities, like the Wicked Rabbit in Omaha, Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago and a bunch of fun spots run by Consortium Holdings in San Diego.
“I’ve always admired cocktail bars,” Weathers said. “I wanted to bring something cool and different to Des Moines, something to get out of the routine.”
That’s what prompted the name, the Contrary. It sums up his drive to shake and stir up expectations.
“My artistry and how I carry myself as a Black man in Des Moines is contrary to popular belief,” he said. “Nobody can box me in.”
