Darin Beck knows hospitality.
When you're the owners of five bars, three restaurants, a comedy club, a sushi bar, a brewpub, and an event center, you tend to pick up a thing or two along the way.
Beck is the owner of the Barmuda Corporation, a 500-employee conglomerate that owns 12 establishments on eight different properties in the Cedar Valley. He's been in the hospitality business for 25 years. He opened his first night club at age 19 - the Pyramid Club in Marshalltown. Ever since, he's been developing an understanding of what Central Iowans like to drink, how they drink it and what kind of atmosphere they like to drink it in. As you would expect from his background, he's got it pretty well figured out.
"I must admit I know my market very well," Beck says.
He also admits his newest entity, Ice Ultra Lounge in Cedar Falls, which opened in January, is pushing the envelope of what people expect in a Midwestern town. Ice is what Beck calls a "true metropolitan ultra lounge." It's what you would expect to see in Las Vegas or South Beach, not adjacent to the University of Northern Iowa campus.
"When it's cranked up at night, you can really forget you're in Iowa," Beck says. "The whole idea was to give Cedar Falls a metropolitan experience. This is as metropolitan as it gets."
Ice features rows of sleek contemporary white leather sofas that reflect changing colors from the flow of surrounding panels of LED lighting. Deejays spin a mix of contemporary European sounds from the state-of-the-art sounds system. Perhaps the coolest feature is the bar top, which features a ten-inch strip of back-lit ice that runs the length of the bar. Not only does it provide a unique light source, it also keeps patrons' drinks ice cold.
Speaking of drinks, they all come straight from the top shelf. Beck did away with the well drinks at Ice, meaning the drinks you order are mixed with the premium spirits of your choice.
"Here, it is really about the top shelf liquors," Beck says. "With the .08 legal limit and the crackdown on drunken driving, people are beginning to emphasize quality over quantity. More and more people would rather have a nice drink, sip it and enjoy it than drink a bunch of cheap liquor and get drunk."
Ice Ultra Lounge specializes in martinis, mojitos and other mixed drinks. Like the music and decor, Ice's drink menu is contemporary and upscale. Beck employs the term "mixology" when referring to Ice's numerous drink options. Anyone can combine a few ingredients, he says, but mixology is a matter of combining the proper ingredients.
"Our Strawberry Orange Mojito doesn't sound like it would be that great," Beck says of the bar's signature concoction of passion fruit rum, simple syrup, orange juice and fresh strawberries. "When you put the ingredients together properly, it's outstanding.
"We've taken mixology - at least in Iowa - to the next level," he says. "This is one of the few places in Iowa where we can say that."
But despite the premium drinks and the contemporary set-up, Beck is still feeling out the niche for a metropolitan atmosphere in the middle of corn country. Developing Ice Ultra Lounge to its full potential, he says, is still a work in progress.
"Each of our properties has what I would call an attraction quality," Beck says. Whether the attraction comes from stand-up comedy, sushi, or a tropical or New Orleans French Quarter atmosphere, each of Barmuda's entities has a different theme. "You have to be able to draw their interest and bring them in the first time, and then if they like it they'll come back. Here I would say the attraction is the uniqueness of it, but it's still pretty new so we're still waiting for it to establish itself."
Barmuda Operations Manager Kyle Dehmlow, who oversees Ice Ultra Lounge and four other entities, agrees that Ice's best days are yet to come.
"We haven't done a lot of marketing," Dehmlow says. "We wanted to open it up and let it go , and then see what people like and dislike. Then we'll adapt to that and start getting the word out."
As the lounge's identity evolves, one this that will remain consistent is the upscale feel, Dehmlow says.
"There are hundreds of places where you can wear anything and sit anywhere," he says. "This is more of a place where you dress up and come to when you're looking for a night on the town.
"This is your only escape from your everyday Midwestern bar."
Beck knew that bringing a slice of South Beach to Central Iowa would be a bit of a gamble. He also knew people in the Cedar Valley would appreciate something metropolitan. As Ice Ultra Lounge establishes its identity, Beck and Dehmlow are both confident that it will be a successful venture.
"I can usually predict the outcome before I do something," Beck says. "But nobody's ever right 100 percent of the time."
But not everybody knows hospitality like Darin Beck.
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