Specialty coffee house café by day – craft cocktail lounge by night.

Escape to The Dilly Club which has opened its doors in the Marina Village at Atlantis, offering guests an elevated escape with a chill island atmosphere.

As a café by day and bar by night, The Dilly Club offers coffee and fresh baked goods for breakfast and lunch, followed by a menu with over 50 cocktails and bar snacks in the evening.

The Dilly Club is from owners Kyle Jones and William Young, the team behind the popular Bon Vivants. Jones began his mixology career at chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in New York City. At the same time, Young started Young's Fine Wine import and distribution business before they joined forces to open Bon Vivants in 2019.

"We're super excited," said Jones, The Dilly Club managing director and co-owner. "What we really wanted to do was create that same kind of atmosphere that we have created at Bon Vivants and also at Yellowbell to bring it to a bigger scale."

Although on a bigger scale to their previous two outposts, in The Dilly Club, Jones and Young, have been able to create an intimate space in a mega resort, but still make it feel intimate.

It also offers up a feel of nostalgia ... old, tropical scenery.

The Zephyr-Fords Gin, Giffard Fleur de Sureau Sauvage, grapefruit, lime and Fever-Tree Indian Tonic.

With a seating capacity for 40 indoors and another 28 outside, plus standing room, they have created a space which leaves people feeling like they have their own little seating area.

"Dilly Club was supposed to be similar to Bon Vivants, but we created a whole new menu," said Jones. "We have some of the favorites from Bon Vivants and from Yellowbell on this menu as well, but we also have 20 new cocktails that you've never tasted before [as well as] blended drinks, which we didn't have at any of our places and we have some new food items as well."

The café menu offers coffees, teas, pastries and cocktails, including guava strudel, cinnamon roll, chocolate chip banana bread and fresh lemon squares, plus Bloody Marys, espresso martinis, Irish coffees and mimosas.

As a cocktail lounge, The Dilly Club has over 20 signature beverages, with House, Tiki, Classic and Frozen cocktails. Examples include Chuck Norris with St. George Green Chile Vodka, lime, mango, Scrappy's Cardamom Bitters and Fever-Tree Ginger Beer; Bimini Punch with Plantation Grande Reserve Rum, Coconut Cartel Rum, Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur, Orgeat, pineapple, orange, hibiscus and Scrappy's Orange Bitters; and Razzle Dazzle (frozen) with SelvaRey Coconut Rum, Giffard Blue Curaçao, coconut, lime and pineapple. The menu also has an extensive rum list with over 150 selections and non-alcoholic cocktails. Complementing the beverages are shareable bar snacks with signature musts: ginger pork bao buns, Everything Soft Pretzels, stuffed blue cheese olives and more.

Vaughn Roberts, Atlantis senior vice president of government affairs and special projects, said the opening of The Dilly Club was important to them as the activation allows them to bring part of being Bahamian into the resort for their guests, while helping to support businesses and entrepreneurial undertakings within the resort.

"This is the first time that we've allowed a food and beverage outlet to be operated by a third party here at Atlantis, so it's a significant move on our behalf to help diversify what we have to offer but also create opportunities for Bahamian companies to build their business around our guests," said Roberts.

"Travelers today want an authentic experience." He said it is their intention to deliver that to their guests.

The name Dilly Club was chosen as a nod to one of Jones' favorite Bahamian musicians, John Berkely "Peanuts" Taylor and the Drumbeat Club. Also dilly is short for sapodilla, a native fruit. The Dilly Club's logo features a Bahamian parrot sitting on a dilly branch.

The new specialty coffeehouse and craft cocktail lounge officially opened its doors on Monday, January 23.

Niko Imbert, director of hospitality at The Dilly Club, said people should come in expecting authentic service.

"Come in and feel nostalgic, because a lot of our style is bohemian and Bahamian chic."

And he said they have hit the price point right around the sweet spot.

"You, me, anyone can come in, get a good cocktail and good service," said Imbert.

The Dilly Club is open Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 12 midnight and Friday and Saturday 8 a.m to 1 a.m.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian