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Frank Dean, co-owner of the 1928 Cocktail Club, mixes a signature cocktail, Queen Bee, at the Main Street business in Branford.

A signature cocktail, Queen Bee.

A signature cocktail, the 1928 Manhattan, photographed at the 1928 Cocktail Club on Main Street in Branford.

A selection of whiskeys at the 1928 Cocktail Club on Main Street in Branford.

Frank Dean looks through the speakeasy door at the 1928 Cocktail Club.

The interior of the 1928 Cocktail Club in Branford.

Frank Dean in one of the booths at the 1928 Cocktail Club in Branford.

The banquette at the 1928 Cocktail Club.

Frank Dean, co-owner of the 1928 Cocktail Club, is photographed in the new business on Main Street in Branford on June 8, 2022.

BRANFORD — The brown paper taped on the windows came down and the 1928 Cocktail Club opened downtown with little fanfare. It all seemed a little hush-hush.

To get in, guests must say a secret password (available daily on Instagram) through a sliding speakeasy window. Last week the password was “Bottoms up.”

Inside the retro bar, proprietor Frank Dean looked as though he had stepped off the set of “Boardwalk Empire,” sporting a sharp haircut and a smart jacket.

Dean and his father-in-law, co-owner Tony Cuomo, love the romance of the Roaring ’20s and the clandestine aura of speak-easies. They also have a taste for the finer things — especially when it comes to food and drink.

The pair also are big fans of the nightclub scene in New York.

With that as their inspiration, they recently opened the 1928 Cocktail Club that features vintage-style décor and bespoke cocktails on Main Street in Branford. They aim to bring a big-city vibe to downtown.

It’s hard to say which man loves the era more.

“The two of us together we have an amazing combination of two people who are really passionate about hospitality — really passionate about speak-easies,” said Cuomo, who lives in North Haven.

Dean described his love affair with the Jazz Age, when Al Capone made front-page news and women’s hemlines climbed, along with the stock market.

“I love the era. I personally think I was reincarnated,” Dean said. “I was always into gangster movies, I was always into the romance of the early 1900s and the 1920s, I love the Victorian era, I love art deco.”

But it was more than an affinity with the 1920s that led him to open a “speak-easy” — he came up with the idea when clubbing with his wife Nicola at hot spots in big cities they visited.

His father-in-law had a hand in that, too.

Cuomo threw the couple a “prohibition wedding,” where the featured beverages were Sidecars, Old Fashioneds and French 75s. And, he set the stage for their Manhattan honeymoon. He gave them a list of his favorite places along with personal introductions; Cuomo had been an aficionado of speak-easies for more than 15 years.

The wedding trip was an eye-opener for Dean. “We didn’t want to do touristy things,” he said. “We’re more foodies and we love wine and we love cocktails.”

“So we went to the best cocktail bars in the city, some of the best wine bars in the city, some of the best restaurants in the city,” the North Haven resident said.

The couple was impressed with the “level of detail they take and the level of service they provide,” he said.

But Dean, who has worked in the hospitality industry for 20 years and is studying to become a sommelier, was a little disappointed when he returned home.

“I don’t feel this when we’re in Connecticut,” he said.

The idea of opening a speak-easy here appealed to him because it creates excitement and a sense of mystery for patrons, he said.

“Between the two of us, we’ve had this dream for seven years,” said Dean, father of three boys ages 7, 6 and 2.

When the couple toured “really cool cocktail clubs that are speak-easies” all over the country, he noted, “you have to find them, they aren’t publicly advertised.”

Eight years after their big NYC trip, the timing seemed right in 2022 to open 1928.

“Prohibition was exactly 100 years ago — 1922 was the beginning of the roaring ’20s until 1930,” Dean said.

He added, “We’re now going into our own Roaring ’20s. Given that in 1919 we had the Spanish flu and in 2020 we had the COVID pandemic. It’s very fitting in my mind.”

Dean said he is confident this concept will work on the shoreline.

“It’s also something so different in this area,” he said, “I think it’s going to give people something to look forward to when they go out.”

Cuomo agreed. “When people pass through the door, and I work the front of 1928, I say, ‘Get ready for a trip back in time,” he said. “I want them to feel that trip back in time and experience that comfort and joy of amazing cocktails.”

Dean aims to make his customers remember the 1928 Cocktail Club “by not only how we make them feel — the cocktails, the great food, the ambiance — but it’s going to be in the level of service we provide for them.”

Customers will be treated like A-listers.

“Everybody’s an A-lister whether you’re dressed in T-shirt and jeans or dressed to the nines, you’re going to be treated the same.”

He also aims to create an air of mystery about the place.

“We want to keep that suspense. We want people to walk in here and just be wowed,” Dean said.

Cuomo added, “I call it the 1928 experience. That’s what we wanted to achieve and I think we nailed it perfectly.”

The bar’s elegant interior looks like it could be part of a movie set for “Downton Abbey” or “The Great Gatsby.”

The long, narrow club is done in rich tones of red, black and gold. Vintage-looking pendant lights hang from a replica of an old-fashioned, hand-stamped tin ceiling. Velvet upholstered seating and deep, leather club chairs add a glamorous look.

Artwork from neighboring Branford Arts & Culture Alliance hangs on the walls, lending pops of color.

The most authentic 1920s throwback in the club is the original brick wall that was uncovered during renovation.

“This building been standing since the early 1900s, we wanted to showcase the original grandeur,” Dean said.

But, when they “ripped back the walls” they were met with a surprise. “We noticed that the brick was black from soot and flames. We had no idea,” he said. It had been blackened by a fire in the 1960s.

They hired a sandblaster to clean up the brick, but leave the original imperfections to “let it tell its own story,” Dean said.

“We’re a cocktail bar first,” Dean said, noting their specialty is “craft cocktails.”

“Craft means every ingredient was carefully put together,” he said. “For instance, we’re doing our own juices, our own syrups, we’re going to start doing our own bitters, our own infusions.”

“When you see our bartenders doing their thing, they are essentially creating art in a glass,” he said.

Lady Mary Crawley from Downton Abbey might approve of their traditional 1928 Manhattan, faithfully made with Crown Royal Canadian whiskey served straight up in a generous martini glass.

“The reason we call it a 1928 Manhattan, the fact that during Prohibition the only whiskey you could get was from Canada,” Dean explained. “So we’re using Canadian whiskey as our base spirit.”

They chose Crown Royal, which he described as “very smooth” with “caramel, some vanilla notes.”

“Then we’ve got some riffs,” Dean said, adding they can “smoke” the traditional Manhattan as an option.

Using a “giant” 2-inch ice cube in a glass, he said, the bartender places a mini smoker on top “and they put wood chips in straining piece and they torch it. ... It’s very cool, it helps flavor the glass as well as the ice in the drink.”

Other specialty drinks include “Tiki-style drinks” such as “Drunken love,” created by one of his bartenders.

“It is a riff on a Mezcal-based drink — it’s a little on the bitter side so it’s got Mezcal, so it’s got that smokiness, your typical tequila, Campari, fresh lime juice — it’s with a pineapple, the sweetness of agave, we’ve got some mint in there,” he said.

The liquid concoction is “more like punches — the old-school way they did Tiki drinks.” But these are hip: “It’s a movement, fresh ingredients, fresh juices, very vibrant, very colorful,” he said.

Another feature of 1928 will be the introduction of bourbon lockers, where customers may purchase hard-to-get bottles and store them at the club in a liquor locker under their name.

When the customer comes in, “They can have their server call their bottle for them.” It’s a service because patrons can order “rarer and more eclectic pieces, which as a bar-restaurant we have access to … that people can’t get their hands on in retail.”

“In this area I don’t think anybody’s doing that,” he said. “It’s more a Boston, New York play.”

The nightclub also will offer memberships, which will provide discounts, preferred seating and access to members-only events.

Light dining options will be offered: charcuterie boards and cheese platters, from Madison Cheese Shop & Cafe; fresh breads from G Café in Branford; and desserts from Take the Cake in Guilford.

Catering for private events such bachelor and bachelorette parties, showers, wedding receptions and the like will be done by Pasta Cosi, also of Branford.

“I’ve been in this industry for 20 years. I started for a mom and pop, family friend’s place in North Haven,” Dean said. At Demirs he stared as a busser-dishwasher and worked his way up to host, server then barback and bartender.

Dean broke away for a few years and became involved in the fitness industry as a personal trainer and ran fitness clubs, all the while picking up bartending gigs to keep his hand in the hospitality industry.

His father-in-law works in corporate sales at IBM and often traveled for his job where he visited speak-easies.

“What I found when I went to a speak-easy was a trip back in time. A beautiful atmosphere, people were happy, beautiful lighting, amazing cocktails, no TVs, great music, calm and relaxed,” he said.

So as far as keeping the 1928 Club secret, weeks before they opened, Dean said, “We have 1,500 followers on Instagram all organic.”

“People are super excited. People hear speak-easy — it’s different,” he said.

1928 Club is open 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Thursday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday. The password changes daily and is available on 1928ct on Instagram.