Mission
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SA–001 · Mission · București

Nothing on
autopilot.

SIDE A is a place to gather and share what we love: music, drinks, food and ideas. Every part of it chosen, none of it left to run on its own.

A01

The mission

Most places choose one thing to be good at and let everything else run on its own. The playlist loops. The drinks come off a list. The welcome comes from a script.

SIDE A is built on the opposite idea. The music is chosen for the night, with intention, never at random. The food and drinks are our own, made to be remembered. And the people who look after you are here for you, not to process you. Everything on purpose, every night.

A02

What SIDE A is

A place to gather and share what we love.

MusicDrinksFoodIdeas.

SIDE A is

  • A place to gather, not just a place to drink
  • Music chosen for the night, with intention, never at random
  • Three rooms, one for each moment of the night
  • Warm, knowledgeable and a little playful

SIDE A is not

  • A club with a record wall
  • A bar with background music
  • A theme bar or a museum of vinyl
  • Loud for the sake of it, or precious about it

A03

The experience

01

The rooms

Three rooms, each with its own purpose and its own mood: one for every moment of the night. Move through them as the evening changes, or stay where it feels right.

  1. Room 01ArriveSit down, catch up, let the night begin.
  2. Room 02GatherAround the bar, where the room gets louder.
  3. Room 03ListenClose to the music, then on your feet.

02

Food & drinks

Original cocktails, a wine list that favours uncommon grapes and Romania’s own varieties, and food made to share. Everything on the menu has a reason to be there.

03

The welcome

Service is part of the programme. Someone at the bar can always tell you what’s playing, what’s in your glass, and why.

A04

The nights

Every night has its own record.

  1. 01Slow JamWine, long conversations and the two people who stopped listening to anyone else.
  2. 02DriftFor the dreamers: the synths open and the room begins to float.
  3. 03BounceR&B, hip-hop and pop, for the ones who came to move.
  4. 04SignalThe hours after midnight, deeper with every track.
  5. 05SIDE A SelectsOur stage for new talent, numbered like releases: 001, 002, and on.

A05

The identity

The A

One letter, drawn big. The hole in the middle is where the spindle goes; the red disc behind it is the label. Everything else at SIDE A comes from those two shapes.

Colour

  • Lacquer#0D0C0AThe room at night. Vinyl.
  • Bone#E9E2D6Sleeve stock, old paper.
  • Oxide#B7422FThe label. Used sparingly, where it counts.

Three voices

  • The labelWork Sans · names, headings, signs
  • The liner notesLibre Baskerville italic · descriptions
  • A1 · 33⅓ · 18:32IBM Plex Mono · the catalogue

Everything has a number

Tracks, drinks, nights, members. The first fourteen tracks are the words on the ring: music, aperitivo, people, sound, wine, conversation, vinyl, cocktails, discovery, light, desserts, design, belonging, late nights. From A15 on, they’re people.

A06

The family

SIDE A is being built with the people who will fill it.

Join before the doors open and you get a number in the order you arrived, first news of the opening, and the first nights as they’re announced. Your place on the list is yours, and so is your number.

Join Side A

SIDE A · More than what’s playing.