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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/422286
www.cheersonline.com 29 November / December 2014 • Kimpton was one of the early adaptors in bringing in bar personalities to run the drinks programs, experts say, and Bezuidenhout has further raised the company's cocktail profile by sourcing local bar stars for each market. JULIE REINER Reiner is one of the many stars of the New York cocktail scene and considered a pioneer in the craft/classic cocktail resurgence. A Hawaii native, Reiner came to New York via San Francisco, where she worked as a bartender in a few spots. As bar manager at the C3 Lounge in New York's Washington Square Hotel, where she worked from 1997 until 2000, Reiner created seasonal drink menus with fresh produce and was one of the first to use tea in culinary cocktails. It's her own New York bars that have made Reiner a name in the mixology world, however. She opened the Flatiron Lounge in 2003, and then the Clover Club in Brooklyn in 2008; Reiner was also part of the team that opened Pegu Club in 2005. Like many of the bar stars today, Reiner credits Dale DeGroff as one of her mentors. Plenty of the people who have passed through the doors of her concepts—as guests and as employees—have gone on to make their own names in the mixology world. For example, Phil Ward, who opened Mayahuel in New York, had been a barback at Flatiron. JIM MEEHAN A fixture of New York's cocktail renaissance, Meehan did turns at Gramercy Tavern and Pegu Club before opening the internationally revered PDT (Please Don't Tell) in the East Village. A speakeasy patrons enter through a phone booth in a hot dog stand, PDT won 2009's World's Best Cocktail Bar from Tales of the Cocktail and 2012's Outstanding Bar Program from the James Beard Foundation. PDT's success was a springboard for Meehan to launch a second career as an influential cocktail writer. In addition to bylines in outlets ranging from GQ to The New York Times, he's also deputy editor of the annual Food & Wine Cocktails special publication. But his most prominent contribution to print was the PDT Cocktail Book, published in 2011. A catalog of every drink PDT ever served, the PDT Cocktail Book is essential reading for all modern mixologists. After seven years at PDT, Meehan recently made the cross-country move to Portland, OR. And though he hasn't officially announced any new projects, the people of Portland should soon be in for a treat. JOSÉ ANDRÉS Andrés is a D.C. institution best known as a James Beard Award-winning chef. But he's branched out significantly in the past decade, from his role as host of the PBS documentary series Made In Spain to a new position as Dean of Spanish Studies at the International Culinary Center. Another avenue he's ventured down is molecular mixology. The epicenter for that exploration is D.C.'s Barmini, a cocktail companion to Andrés' fine-dining restaurant Minibar. Intended to be a lab where mixologists and chefs come together to experiment with ingredients and techniques, Barmini is ground zero for Andrés' expanding cocktail empire—and also an amazing place to get a drink. Andrés himself is no stranger to cocktail creativity, having invented and popularized the Salt Air Margarita (an emulsified salt foam atop a traditional margarita) more than a decade ago at D.C.'s old Café Atlántico. All these years later, Andrés continues to propel the cocktail evolution forward. ANN TUENNERMAN As founder and executive director of Tales of the Cocktail, Tuennerman is the force behind what's become the industry's premier event. Thousands of mixology legends, novices and enthusiasts bear the heat and humidity of New Orleans in July to attend Tales of the Cocktail. It all started in 2002 as walking tour of New Orleans bars and restaurants with stories about the historic sites, drinks and people of the city; by the second year it had turned into a small event. Initially sponsored by Southern Comfort, the conference expanded each year, adding seminars in 2003 and tasting rooms in 2007. More than 20,000 attendees now participate in the five-day event, which also incudes spirited dinners and bartending competitions. Tuennerman, a New Orleans native, also gives back to the city. She and her husband Paul founded the New Orleans Culinary & Cultural Preservation Society in 2006. The NOCCPS invests funds raised from Tales of the Cocktail events back into the cocktail industry through apprenticeships, grants, scholarship programs and more.