A historic downtown SLC building may soon be home to a high-end seafood and wine bar

A new wine bar and seafood restaurant may be opening soon inside of one of downtown Salt Lake City’s most distinctive buildings.

Just after the new year began, the team that brought Felt Bar & Eatery to the Felt Building on Main Street in 2024 announced on Instagram that they were planning to open a new business called Brownstone 22.

Located at 22 E. 100 South, Brownstone 22 would occupy the space that was previously home to Martine — inside, fittingly, a brownstone building whose facade is made with red sandstone.

Felt co-owner Richard Romney said their renovation of the space is on track to be finished by the end of January, and that they plan to open Brownstone 22 in early February. “We will be opening as soon as we can after the dust has settled,” he said.

According to the Instagram post, Brownstone 22 would be a “high-concept seafood and wine bar.” Romney said their inspiration for the concept was “a classic East Coast oyster and wine bar with our own twist.”

The food menu would be mostly seafood but also feature non-seafood items like burgers, steak and house-made pasta, Romney said. The bar menu would feature wine prominently as well as classic cocktails, “with an emphasis on martinis,” he said.

Compared to Felt, Romney said, Brownstone 22 “will be slightly higher-end in menus, design and overall vibe, while still being approachable and comfortable.” Brownstone 22 would also be more seafood-focused than Felt, he said.

The clock is ticking for Brownstone 22 to open if the owners want to keep their conditional bar license. Michelle Schmitt, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS), said Brownstone 22 is licensed under the bar license for Bar Martine, which was a business in the building that got a conditional liquor license in 2024 but never opened. Bar Martine is now listed in DABS records as Brownstone Bar.

Since the license will expire after 18 months, Brownstone 22 must open by Feb. 28. If it does, the conditional license will become an active bar license, Schmitt said.

If Brownstone 22 doesn’t open by Feb. 28, the owners can request a six-month extension if they have an active building permit and proof that they are doing their best to open on time, according to the DABS website.

The building that will house Brownstone 22 was built in 1890 as the Utah Commercial and Savings Bank Building, according to a form nominating the building to be included on the National Register of Historic Places. The architect was Richard K.A. Kletting, who was born in Germany in 1858 and came to Utah in 1883.

Kletting designed some of the most recognizable buildings in the Salt Lake City area, according to the form, including the Utah Capitol, the original Saltair pavilion, the old University of Utah (now West High School) and, ironically, the Felt Building.