Interview with Duke’s Spirited Cocktails
In 2016, a very special bar opened in downtown Healdsburg from three Spoonbar (https://spoonbar.com) alums: Laura Sanfilippo, Tara Heffernon and Steven Maduro. Since its initial days when Wine Country bartending pioneer Scott Beattie first helmed Spoonbar’s bar, cocktails in...
Jammyland in Las Vegas Puts Hospitality First
I wrote about Los Angeles’ Caña Rum Bar more than once after it opened in 2010, including here in Distiller. It was easily LA’s best rum bar at that time, due in large part to warm, engaging service and...
Manhattan Bar Manager Naren Young of Dante
The 1988 movie Cocktail changed everything for Naren Young when he first saw it as a young lad in the 1990s. It ushered in a crush on Elisabeth Shue and—more importantly—the flair bartending and bar scenes of the film...
Q&A with Bar Manager Andrew Friedman, LIBERTY BAR
Andrew Friedman runs one of the best bars in Seattle, Liberty, with a thoughtful selection of over 600 craft and global spirits. In addition to opening Liberty in 2006, Andrew is founder and president of the Washington State Bartender’s...
Bar Manager Interview with Natasha Bahrami
If you ask gin lovers about the best gin bars in the U.S., those in the know will include The Gin Room (natashasginroom.com) in St. Louis (STL), MO, that is also a haven for cocktails, amaro and food inside...
Interview with Nicole Lebedevitch
Born in Bethany, Connecticut, near New Haven, Nicole Lebedevitch had plans for a music career. She moved to Boston to go to school at Berklee College of Music, studying music business and piano. Working in restaurants on the side,...
Interview with Bill Thomas of Jack Rose Dining Saloon
Ask any D.C. spirits aficionado the bar you should not miss in D.C. and most likely they will mention Jack Rose Dining Saloon. Talk to whisk(e)y fanatics across the country—especially those who travel—and they’ll bring it up, too. With...
Interview with Felix Cohen, Bar Manager at Every Cloud
Felix Cohen is a much-needed figure in the London bar world, though web development is his “other” career. As the owner of the tiny, charming Every Cloud (everycloudbar.com) bar in London’s Hackney neighborhood (in our top bars feature, pg....
Molly Wellmann
Walking down the streets of downtown Cincinnati with native daughter Molly Wellmann (www.mollywellmann.com), it’s easy to see she’s the Queen of Cincy. Locals know and adore her, constantly stopping her in the street, waving as she passes by or...
Interview with Lane Harlan of WC Harlan & Clavel
Born on Clark Air Force base on the Philippine island of Luzon (just outside Manila), Lane Harlan grew up a middle child, moving around the USA with her parents and siblings. She lived across the country in Texas, Nevada,...
