Interview with Bar Manager, Olivia Rose Griffin
When Olivia Rose Griffin moved from San Francisco to Louisville in 2014, there wasn’t a tiki bar in the state of Kentucky — and few in the South in general. But The Limbo (www.thelimbo.club/), which Griffin opened in early...
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...
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...
Q&A with Charles Joly
Your bar, The Aviary, is one of the most exciting in the country. What is your process for creating drinks here that might be different than how you have done it in past bar programs (Drawing Room, etc.)?
I would...
Interview with Bar Owner, Chris McMillian
There are bartenders who love their craft but are in the industry merely for a season. There are bartenders who get into the business for moments of press or local fame, then move on to brand ambassador-type roles or...
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 Leigh LaCap, Coin-Op Bar Manager
From coffee barista days to bartending his first gig at San Diego’s great Craft and Commerce (www.craft-commerce.com), Leigh Lacap is schooled on balance and technique, but also imparts a playful, feel-good approach that many a bar managex+r could learn...
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...
Satoshi Yonemori of Grapes & Soda
To walk into tiny Grapes and Soda in Vancouver’s laid-back South Granville neighborhood is to experience the vision of Satoshi Yonemori. Often the only bartender behind the intimate bar (there is just one other part-time bartender), Yonemori is a...
Interview with Leigh Lacap
From coffee barista days to bartending his first gig at San Diego’s great Craft and Commerce (www.craft-commerce.com), Leigh Lacap is schooled on balance and technique, but also imparts a playful, feel-good approach that many a bar manager could learn...
