The Vinyl Society opens on Randolph, a cocktail tribute to old Paradise Valley

A new cocktail lounge has opened on Randolph Street in the heart of the district Detroit renamed for Paradise Valley, the Black entertainment quarter that thrived from the 1920s through the 1950s before urban renewal and the construction of I-375 erased it.

The Vinyl Society, at 1427 Randolph St., is the latest project from Dennis Archer Jr. and his Congress Hospitality group. The lounge describes itself as a performance, arts, and experience focused cocktail bar built for audiophiles and fans of multiple music genres, with a program of live jazz and blues that nods to the clubs of the original Paradise Valley. Those rooms, near Hastings Street, once hosted performers including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sammy Davis Jr.

The space draws on Detroit's French heritage and what the venue calls the mid-century hospitality scene of Paradise Valley, pairing globally influenced food and drink with live music. The cocktail list is built to echo the era, with the bar saying it pulls inspiration from drink preferences documented in the history books alongside a wine selection that runs from approachable bottles to limited-production vintages. Among the named cocktails are the Paradise Valley, the American Requiem, and the Greenbook, the last a reference to the Negro Motorist Green Book that guided Black travelers to safe lodging and dining during segregation.

There is a dress code. The venue asks for what it calls a smart formal vibe and turns away joggers, baseball caps, and visible undergarments. Posted hours run Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The opening lands years after Archer's group secured the building. In June 2016, the city's Downtown Development Authority selected his investment group to buy 1407 and 1427 Randolph for $976,000 as part of the larger Paradise Valley redevelopment, a multi-project plan the DDA valued at roughly $52 million across five development teams, per Crain's Detroit Business reporting at the time.

The block sits inside the Paradise Valley Cultural and Entertainment District, the name the city gave the former Harmonie Park to tie the area back to the neighborhood that once stood a few blocks away. Archer, who chairs the district's conservancy board, framed the wave of new openings as a win for the area. "The Conservancy, as a board and in representing the members of our district, could not be more excited about the recent announcements related to hospitality and retail in the District," he said in a statement released through Bedrock.

The Vinyl Society is at 1427 Randolph St., Detroit.