In Full Bloom
Written by Jack Bradner
Photography by Kit Noble
What began as a weekend pop-up quickly became a local cult favorite. In the summer of 2025, Dylan Cavaliere launched Bloom Bar as a limited-run restaurant within the Boarding House, serving small-batch specialty coffee, freshly made pastries, simple dishes and craft cocktails. He reopened Bloom Bar in its own independent space on South Water Street this summer.
“I always planned on having a full concept,” Cavaliere said. His vision was simple: a café and cocktail/wine bar where there’s always a little something for everyone. “When traveling, I love those places near your Airbnb or hotel where you can get your coffee and a pastry in the morning, and then go back later for a spritz or glass of wine before your dinner reservation, and it becomes your ‘regular,’” he said. “That’s how the concept of Bloom Bar was born—I really wanted to have a space that feltinclusive at all times of the day.”
Flowers and growth are baked into the name and into the design of Bloom Bar’s menu and signage. But Cavaliere actually chose the name for its double meaning. “Bloom” is also a culinary term. “It means to heat or warm spices to reveal their fullest aromas and flavors,” he said. “We bloom coffee, cocoa, spices and [other ingredients] very often.”
Bloom Bar’s new dining room is filled with natural light during the day and glows with candlelight in the evening. Warm wood tones are paired with sage and olive green, mocha and ivory hues. The tables and bar are dotted with bud vases bright with seasonal blossoms. It’s earthy, warm and intimate, and invites you to settle in. “Someone recently told me that it feels new, but it also feels like it’s been here for a long time, and that’s really complimentary,” Cavaliere said.
The food menu is driven by Cavaliere’s love of baking and sweets, with pastries made in house by Eve Philus. Bloom Bar’s daytime food menu moves from morning pastries to more substantial “brunchy bites,” including a breakfast sandwich, quiches, paninis and salads. The house made bread is also a feature of the dinner menu, playing a supporting role in dishes with burrata and spring peas and clams. Cavaliere’s food menu focuses on local, seasonal ingredients and bright, approachable flavors. He keeps dishes deliberately simple with house made pastas and small plates like shrimp and scallops in lemon white wine-butter sauce, grilled chicken with salad and coffee-rubbed hanger steak with chimichurri. “There aren’t more than four or five ingredients per dish,” he said.
His instinct to share his passion for food, drink, travel and hospitality—and to leave no one out—is at the core of everything Cavaliere has built at Bloom Bar. “I just love seeing people here having a good time, especially friends and family,” he said. “But obviously, it’s a completely different feeling when people I’ve never met before are here and the bar is full and buzzing—it’s those moments when I realize it’s all worth it.”
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