Having made my reservation at Moon Bar, a new cocktail pop-up that serves Asian-influenced sips and snacks, we arrived at Cafe Cà Phê on a Sunday evening as instructed, to find the windows of Jackie Nguyen’s cheerful Vietnamese coffee shop covered in moody gray curtains with the words “Moon Bar” printed across the front. Saranya Hubbard came to Kansas City in 2020 after bartending in Bangkok, Thailand, and quickly decided that there was room here to show off her Japanese bartending-style cocktails and accompanying bar snacks. She and her husband, Zach, who is also a bartender, opened Moon Bar as a pop-up until they find a spot to open her dream concept, a tearoom-by-day, cocktail bar-by-night spot. The menu changes with each pop-up and is heavily influenced by a wide array of traditional and not-so-traditional Asian ingredients and flavors. Watching her work quietly behind the bar making each drink with calm, exacting precision, you can’t help but feel cared for and catered to. Her cocktails are exceptional, well-balanced, and one of a kind. With pop-up dates scheduled into the new year, check the website to subscribe to her email list for future invites or follow on Instagram.