Look for the red lantern in the alleyway tucked behind Long Beach’s El Barrio Cantina to find Tokyo Noir, a hidden Japanese-style cocktail bar opening on November 13. The new bar comes from restaurateur Jesse Duron (El Barrio Cantina) and acclaimed bartender and certified Ice Master Kevin Lee (Puzzle Bar and the Wolves).

“Tokyo Noir is really the next step in my journey through the world of cocktails,” Lee says. The menu is inspired by Lee’s past experience serving a cocktail “omakase” at the Wolves called Le Néant. The experience didn’t have a set menu, instead serving cocktails based around produce at its peak season. While Tokyo Noir won’t serve its menu as an omakase, Lee’s menu will still be informed by California’s microseasons. “The sensitivity to nature was really such a beautiful idea for me,” Lee says. Expect subtle shifts in the menu as Lee adapts cocktails to the changing weather, or tweaks ingredients with the seasons.

At Tokyo Noir, Lee will take inspiration from Japanese bartending techniques, including a focus on “precision, balance, and respect for every ingredient.” The bartending will be exact, from the ice-carving to the practiced shake that can remove notes of bitterness from Aperol. Bartenders will even be throwing cocktails, an impressive process not found at many bars in Southern California. “My focus is really on the process,” Lee says. “It’s about refinement, not excess, and with each motion and each ingredient having a purpose.” He considers every aspect of the cocktail, down to the ice, which will be imported from Japan.

The opening menu will feature three highballs with whisky, mezcal, and scotch, plus cocktails like the Kaiju with Japanese rum, Midori, creme anglaise, and yuzu; the Hibiki Old Fashioned with Hibiki, Okinawan rock sugar, and nori bitters; and a shaved ice kakigori cocktail with shochu, guava, and grapefruit.

Alongside the cocktails, chef Ulises Piñeda-Alfaro will serve an izakaya-inspired menu with dishes including charred edamame, a wagyu skirt skewer, and miso-deviled eggs. In developing the menu, Duron and Lee had to navigate pairing foods with intricate cocktails without overwhelming the flavors. “I think we’ve created a menu that balances the cocktails pretty well, and it’s not overpowering,” Duron says. “It’s just bar bites, and everything is finger food.”

The Japanese influence extends beyond the menu. The bar has been modeled after a Tokyo-style listening bar, with dark wood, red lanterns overhead, and a backlit liquor cabinet. “It’s all about the cocktails, but also creating the vibes and the atmosphere,” Lee says. “Kind of combining the elements of a hip-hop listening bar.” The playlist will consist mostly of ’90s hip-hop, and other tracks Lee and Duron were raised on.

Duron thinks it’s time for Long Beach to have a bar like Tokyo Noir; somewhere where the experience and showmanship go hand in hand with high-quality cocktails and food. “I think LA just recently got [put on a] top 50 bar [list],” Duron says. “That’s what we want, that’s our goal. We want to be put on that list.”

Tokyo Noir is located behind El Barrio Cantina at 1731 E. 4th Street, Long Beach, CA 90802. It will hold hours from 5 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations are available through OpenTable.