About Us.
An Oasis in the heart of OTR. Built with found materials from around the world set in a sprawling exotic garden & conservatory.
A LOST Co. spot.
Backstory
In the late 1960’s Nick walked down the driveway of his family farm, with not much more than he had in his pockets, leaving behind a difficult home situation. By the time he returned he had hitchhiked across Europe and Asia, ending up in Kathmandu, earning money as he went.
Over the years Nick & his wife Jo became true adventurers, they would organize months long overland expeditions through the most remote regions of Africa, making friends, delivering much needed school and medical supplies, and collecting all sorts of interesting art and materials as they traveled.
Back home in England Nick & Jo hand built the award winning Dragon House, using materials collected over 50 years of adventures.
Their son and Somerset’s creator was raised in this environment of traveling, collecting and building - while trying to do as much good along the way as possible.
In 2011 he moved to OTR after stints in London, Berlin and Tanzania. Initially arriving for work, he created a home here with his family after falling in love with the neighborhood.
Everywhere he has lived and traveled, his favorite places are the neighborhood ones that attract people from all walks of life to hang out together. Places that have become what they are organically, over time.
For a while OTR had the beloved Neons Unplugged, and still has some great community bars like Miltons and Liberties, but it is arguably short on casual outdoor hang-out space.
So, in around 2015 he began to think about creating a place, and teamed up with Jeremy Moore, former Neons GM, to help bring it to reality.
The idea was to build an indoor/outdoor bar with a vibrant garden that could help you feel like you aren’t in a bustling city for a little while.
As a nod to his late father the place would be built using authentic and interesting materials/objects from around the world - all directly sourced. The goal would be to help reinforce the feeling of being ‘elsewhere’ - this time possibly out of the country.
Maybe it could even inspire more people to take greater interest in distant cultures, and maybe even spark a few more people to travel off the beaten path, and build new bridges overseas.
Over the next few years 8 shipping containers and dozens of suitcases of interesting goodies arrived in Cincinnati from adventures in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, Europe and Australasia.
With a warehouse starting to bulge, construction on Somerset started in 2018/2019. 2020 was held-up for Covid and the goal became to open in Summer 2021.
Allie Eberle, the former AGM at Taste of Belgium, joined in 2021 as General Manager.
Continuing a trend of bringing the team back together, the folks from Mazunte tacos came onboard to run a new menu of globally inspired street foods (to be served out of our double decker London food bus), and Grafton Wiley joined as AGM.
At Somerset it is important to us to do as much of the work ourselves as we can. We specifically do not work with outside consultants, designers etc. We don’t want this place to feel too polished - we don’t want it to feel like it’s a ‘concept’ or -god forbid- a ‘theme’ bar.
We believe that by having fun and working with our friends, using our own creativity, and putting in the elbow grease the place will feel more organic and more natural.
We want Somerset to feel like it’s always been here, and we want it to feel like it’s home, to anyone & everyone who shares our curiosity and spirit.
Nick is no longer with us, but we hope Somerset would have been the kind of place he would have wanted to sit to sip a G&T as the sun goes down.
Safari njema ❤️
Name
Somerset is a county in rural England, its name essentially means “Home to the people of Summer”.
Somerset is a strange and magical place, home to druid ceremonies, solstice celebrations, Glastonbury festival (our Burning Man), Arthurian legends, and many a mushroom trip.
Deep in its history Somerset was invaded and settled by the Romans, Saxons and Normans, possibly the Vikings too.
As a boy, James would often be adventuring with his family in Africa, Asia or the Middle East. But in years when they couldn’t venture quite so far, they would go to Somerset.
It was the place to go to feel a sense of magic and being “elsewhere”, right on their doorstep.
Which is what we want this Somerset to be for our neighborhood.
Cultural Connections
Usually when you go to a bar or restaurant the furnishings and fixtures will have come from a handful of suppliers. Maybe Webstaurant, Restoration Hardware, Amazon or whatever.
These mega corporations export designs created by highly paid westerners and import finished goods made by low-wage workers in developing nations.
It’s 2021 and globalization is here. A connected world is a good thing, but it doesn’t need to be so uniform and industrialized.
When we are buying from overseas artisans and traders we seek items that represent their cultures rather than ours.
We travel to countries personally, learning about them, meeting people, forging friendships and trading directly with small-businesses at fair prices.
We really believe that for a more connected and understanding world, it’s important to appreciate and celebrate the aesthetics of other cultures.
Team Security
Work in hospitality can be harder than it looks; being on your toes in social environments for long periods, working non-standard hours.
Everyone has the right to good healthcare, access to mental health resources, and time to recuperate.
As such we have committed to providing our team with healthcare and paid time off. Benefits that for some odd reason seem unusual in the hospitality world, but shouldn’t be.
Having lived in the neighborhood for over a decade, it is important to us that Somerset acts as a member of the local community rather than simply a business designed to profit from it.
Here is a non-exhaustive and ever-evolving overview of how we think about it..
Somerset is a place for everyone, regardless of where you come from, the color of your skin, who you love, who your god is, what you look like, what you wear, what you believe. You are all welcome here. All we ask is that you treat each other with kindness and love. It’s 2021 ffs :)
We welcome community groups & organizations to use our spaces for free. See our events page for more info and to book.
We serve beverages at all price points, ideally allowing people from all socioeconomic circumstances to enjoy a drink in our space.
Our lounge space features an honesty book library that patrons and neighbors are free to borrow from. You don’t need to be a customer.
Community
2% Program
At Lost Hospitality we assign 2% of our profits to support budding hospitality entrepreneurs, both in our neighborhood and overseas (about half and half), who we feel can make an impact to their communities through their businesses.
Additionally, we also provide guidance on finance, marketing, design and whatever else is needed. Our team roll up their sleeves and help with anything.
As we grow we plan to significantly increase the portion of profit’s that are used to directly assist others and make non-profit activities more central to what we do.
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Our first grant was given in advance of opening to help Yohana Tumaini Ladislaus build a guest house on the island of Ukerewe in Tanzania.
A schoolteacher by day, Yohana had been saving for years, but on a teachers salary (~$7 a day) had still only put aside enough money to complete the outer walls. He and his family slept on the floor with no roof above them other than a tarp.
Our grant provided the funds for a roof, doors and windows, electrical and water service, as well as the furnishings and equipment needed to operate his home as an 8 room guest house.
Unfortunately covid hit right as construction finished, but Yohana hopes to start welcoming guests soon, and we will visit as soon as travel allows to help with some finishing and get his website, marketing and booking systems set up.
Climate
We realize that the creation and operation of a bar of this type has an impact on our climate and environment.
We are committed to the use of environmentally friendly materials, as well as recyclable or compostable consumables. We strive to use zero disposable plastics.
We are honest about the fact that given IPCC climate goals this is a drop in the ocean.
Therefore, in 2020 we took a healthy portion of our startup budget and assigned it to Eden Projects who have planted 10,000 mangrove trees on our behalf in Indonesia and Madagascar.
This means Somerset, and our next few Lost Hospitality locations, will operate as net carbon positive businesses.
A LOST Co. Bar | safari njema ❤️