Umbra’s owners Jorge Guarch and Zach Schepis are two musicians who met serendipitously years ago over an impromptu writing session, and in the time since have watched their concept evolve from a casual home recording studio into a 1700 square foot, 2-tier space. Tucked away on a residential street in Bushwick, the music shop/restaurant/jazz club is a physical embodiment of everything the duo truly care about, tied together into an amalgam that fits so many needs in a neighborhood that the pair hold a deep seated love for.

The focus of the space, first and foremost, is on the musical performances. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings from 8pm-11:30pm, patrons can enjoy two sets of music from a wide range of musical stylings. With seating for 74, including a main dining area with two larger booths, a fur-wrapped, art-deco inspired quartz bar with seating for 30, and an upstairs lounge/mezzanine with couches and room for up to 20 more (including the potential for larger group reservations), Umbra offers audiences intimate evenings with exciting artists in a space beautifully designed to stimulate and accommodate them. Unlike other more traditional jazz venues throughout the city, Umbra features music from regions around the world, and artists that blur genre lines in favor of adventure and improvisation. On Sunday evenings, Umbra hosts open-forum jam sessions where local musicians can come together and make music on the fly. With an obsession for high fidelity sound, everything is tied together by a Meyer Sound System designed by Jorge and Zach, along with an unparalleled backline of vintage instruments and amplifiers.

Walking through the floor-to-ceiling glass double doors, visitors will be greeted by a wall full of hanging guitars, saxophones, musician accessories, and local band merchandise, all washed by the purple glow of a neon sign bearing Umbra’s logo. While the various synthesizers, drum machines, and musical instruments will make it clear that the space is tailored for musicians, the logo on the sign is a bit more subtle. Two quarter-note rests are hidden in the sign, musical notation that is an ode to the duo’s insistence that music and art are at the core of everything Umbra has to offer. Bushwick has an undeniably high concentration of musicians, yet the neighborhood doesn’t have a place for them to buy common use musical gear before a gig or recording session. The shop will be stocked to supply picks, strings, straps, reeds, sticks, and a curated selection of used instruments. It can also be converted into pop-ups for local vendors and artists.

When thinking about the bar’s wine selection, the owners leaned away from extensive lists and the potential for choice-paralysis. The goal instead became a focused and easily digestible menu where quality, not quantity, rules. There are two options each of red, white, and orange, along with a sparkling, a rose, and sake from Umbra’s neighbors at Kato Sake Works. Each pair of wine is split to give a clear, bifurcated choice between accessibility and more adventurous offerings, and helping bartenders will walk through each choice while bypassing the standard highfalutin wine bar vocabulary. Beyond wines, the beer list is crafted just as carefully, featuring almost exclusively local beers. The staple of their draft list is a rotating option from the owner’s favorite brewery, Beacon’s Hudson Valley Brewery, who focus on fruit-forward sour beers. The emphasis on local breweries extends to include ciders, a NY specialty, and seltzers, as Brooklyn’s Lunar Seltzer are prominently featured after the duo hit it off with Lunar’s co-founder Sean Ro at a tasting, and then paired up for Umbra’s initial soft opening event.

While the drink menu is a curated reflection of Zach and Jorge’s individual tastes, the food program is borne of their love for collaboration. Umbra will feature a seasonally rotating chef with carte blanche in regards to the menu, as long as whatever being served is fresh, delicious, and creative. While the focus of the space is on the music performances, the duo believe that cooking is an art form as well, and the kitchen will be as much of a stage, fully exposed and visible to the patrons. To helm the kitchen for the summer, they have brought in Zach’s childhood friend, Chef Andrew Carlini. The cuisine featured this season will be a nostalgic romp through your grandma’s garden. Chef Carlini’s turns in a finer dining world are underpinned by a foundation of backyard wood fire BBQs. The constantly changing menu leans hard into vegetables and will be punctuated by select meat and fish offerings, highlighting the essence of single ingredients. Presenting in a small plates format will allow guests to try everything on the menu and enjoy an intimate sharing experience. All of this will be executed within a wide-open kitchen space, accentuated by a beautifully striated 30-foot long quartz bar top, making dinner a show of its own and chancing the opportunity to engage with the chef directly.

The cafe and music shop will be opening Tuesday, May 28th and operating hours will be 9am-4pm. Official opening weekend for the restaurant and live music will be Thursday, May 30th. Doors will be at 6pm, with seating starting at 6:30pm and music beginning at 8pm. Umbra will be open 7 days a week.