Distiller magazine

fall 2020 | 161 Laura's experience ranges from being a Certified Sommelier to her consulting company, Batch Cocktails (co-founded with Tara), where they designed wine country bar programs and did product and recipe development for spirits brands. Tara has been working in Sonoma County restaurants since she was 14, co-founding Batch Cocktails with Laura. Steven moved to California from northern Virginia in 2011 and began bartending at Healdsburg Bar & Grill, then eventually Spoonbar, where he met and worked with Tara, Laura and Cappy. Enter Cappy Sorentino. A Sonoma native, who also was a Spoonbar alum and the first to take over that bar from mentor Scott Beattie in 2011–2014, he returned to his home county after a few years leading bars at notable restaurants in Los Angeles. He joined the management team at Duke's, com- pleting the powerhouse foursome. ey went on to plot the opening of their second, more upscale bar, Burdock, which at the time of writing was slated to open this summer. Here, all four share a bit about their past, their present, the future, operating bars in a pandemic and what needs to be different about ABC laws. What led you into the cocktail and the bar world? Laura: I got into the bar and cocktail world 100% because of my parents. My dad was in hospitality all my life and worked as a maitre d' in hotel restau- rants. He was old-school hospitality and taught me everything about service and entertaining guests. My mom is an amazing cook and our dinners growing up were always different. She loved to cook cuisine from all over the world. We would have cocktail hour before dinner, and my mom would always come up with some fun cocktail to pair with what we were eating (this was in the mid '90s!) I remember she made Cable Cars one night but made her own kum- quat simple syrup to use in the drink. I would get non-alcoholic versions, of course. Margaritas were my mom's favorite drink. She would always make us juice the limes fresh for the margaritas (again in the 90s). My first bartending gig was at my house for a party my mom was throwing for one of her employees. I was begging to bartend since I had always wanted to do that from an early age. I was 15 and shook drinks all night for the guests and had the time of my life. I was hooked. From then, I worked in all aspects of the indus- try from dishwasher to breakfast cook at a cafe, to host, server and ultimately bartender. Tara, Cappy and Steven all have similar stories of beginning in this industry at an early age. We are all industry "lif- ers" and share a deep commitment to hospitality and making guests leave happier than when they came in. Cappy: I knew at a very young age I was going to be in hospitality. From my junior year of high school, I knew I wanted to be in restaurants and to be a host. I began cooking, baking and bringing food to classmates and began planning and hosting parties. I began work at local restaurants, picking up everything I could, all with the end goal of having my own establishment one day. I pored over food and drink books, from Setting the Table, Imbibe, to Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life. I gradually began working my way up the restaurant and bar ladder to the holy position of "keeper of booze." [In] no other position in the industry do you have both hospitality, hosting and creativity in creating an actual thing for a guest. How does being based in Sonoma County influence your bar's style and operations? Tara: Sonoma County is a mecca of food and drink innovation, with year-round bounty right out- side our doorstep. ere is constant inspiration from local chefs, growers, winemakers and the rising farm- to-bar movement that I am so proud to be a part of in this community. Being based in Sonoma County allows us to be seasonal and self-sustaining in a way that most bars around the world cannot. I have a small farm at my home in Forestville where I have spent the last ten years growing herbs, produce and edible flow- ers specifically for cocktails. is last year my part- ners agreed to invest in a new greenhouse that my husband built on our property, which has allowed my seed production to skyrocket, guaranteeing year-round production of things that were previ- ously seasonal. In the winter, our cocktails are cov- ered in savory items, carrot fronds, baby chards and beet greens. In the summer, the bartop looks like a nursery of pineapple sage, a variety of mints and basils, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, fennel, bay and edible flowers. We make syrups, shrubs, cordials and bitters in addition to the garnish game using stone fruit, berries, quince, gooseberries, apples, currants, elderberries, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets and more. It's not lost on me how lucky we are to be able to cultivate our own ingredients, then have the fun of turning them into unexpected combinations. It's what makes living here so special.

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