Following last week's news about the closure of Bar Agricole, we now have some clarification about the concept's future, and owner Thad Vogler's other plans.

Fans of Bar Agricole and its carefully balanced cocktails will be heartened to know that the bar is not closed for good, and will reopen in May in what will be its third location since its inception. The new spot is the former Liliana — and briefly Bar Osito — adjacent to Michelin-starred restaurant Osito, at 2875 18th Street.

We learned last week, as first reported by Tablehopper, that the one-year-old location at 1550 Mission was closed for good after a holiday hiatus. Owner Thad Vogler said the large, multi-room space had turned out to be "too much of a restaurant" and that he had lined up something smaller.

That now turns out to be the Osito-adjacent space, which won't need much remodeling and already had much of the modern, blond-wood aesthetic that Bar Agricole 2.0 already had.

The bar formerly known as Liliana and Bar Osito. Photo by Molly DeCoudreaux

But there's more. As the Chronicle explains, Vogler has also secured part of the space formerly occupied by Lucca Ravioli — the storefront at 1100 Valencia Street (at 22nd) — which will become a new restaurant. The name is Bispo, and it will essentially be a reboot of Vogler's shuttered rum-focused concept Obispo — one of several of his businesses that were victims of the pandemic.

It will be the new kitchen home of Bar Agricole chef Will Napoli, who has Brazilian roots, and Vogler summarizes the concept as "a new version of beans and rice and rum."

Vogler tells the Chronicle that he always wanted to be focused on the bar side of his businesses, but he was forced into running restaurants because of liquor license rules in SF. With the new 3.0 version of Bar Agricole, he hopes to get to return to that focus, but reportedly there will be snacks coming out of the kitchen as well.

Among SF's bar stars, Vogler has always been one who wanted to highlight what he calls "regionalism" — and tasting the terroir of where spirits come from, the way we do wine. Hence the name, Agricole, which comes from rhum agricole — the herbaceous spirit from the Caribbean that was at the heart of the original Bar Agricole menu, and that is perhaps the most terroir-specific version of rum you can taste.

Coming down the line will be Vogler's own cachaca, the Brazilian cousin to rum that is the basis of caiparinhas and other cocktails. That will be featured at Bispo, while a new whiskey being made in partnership with St. George Spirits in Alameda will be highlighted at Bar Agricole.

The retail component of the most recent Bar Agricole, in which Vogler was selling single-origin spirits, continues via the website, and it's not clear how or if that may continue at the new bar.

Look for Bar Agricole to re-debut in May, and look for Bispo to open "within a year."

Previously: Bar Agricole Has Closed, Team to Relocate to New Valencia Street Space