Managing supply chain woes, pandemic restrictions, and other delays, Licht Café could finally open almost two years after its conception. He received his liquor license in late 2019 and started the buildout in early 2020-right when the pandemic shutdown hit. In early 2019, Hurd finally landed on a space for his boutique-style café: a small former office less than a block from Vida and close to other LGBTQ+ establishments. (Hurd’s first foray into opening a business geared to the LGBTQ+ community was the now-closed Whiskey Ginger, a clothing shop.)
Yet there did not exist a homey, Euro-style café that encouraged small crowds to linger and mingle over highballs and coupes. There were dance clubs (Town and Cobalt, both shuttered) and lively standbys. to take his NASA gig, he noticed a gap in LGBTQ+ bar offerings.
We too often step around our unique identities.Īfter Hurd touched down in D.C. I wanted to make the bar unapologetically gay.
