IN THE STUDIO WITH...
A Series of Artist Interviews
A Series of Artist Interviews
Jim Meehan’s pioneering impact on today’s craft cocktail industry is undeniable. A two-time James Beard Award winner—for Outstanding Bar Program (2012) and for “Meehan’s Bartender Manual” (2018)—he has just finished his third book: “The Bartender’s Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar,” which is available for preorder now and will be published June 11, 2024.
From the first minute of our conversation this past fall, I was struck by his deep appreciation for the history of his craft and his commitment to surrounding himself with diverse sources of inspiration. Meehan gave me a tour of his studio (his house in Portland, Oregon) starting with the first place he looks when on the hunt for a new drink: old books. We talked about his creative process, how inventing cocktails differs from writing books, his work ethic, the necessity of collaboration, and why a cocktail depends so much on the room in which it is served.
Find his work here.
“It really is about spinning all the plates. You have to be an amazing multitasker.” Chef Lisa Schroeder is the force behind Mother’s Bistro, an essential institution in downtown Portland for 23 years and counting. Among her many awards, she was just named Oregon’s Small Business Person of the Year by the SBA, an honor that last month took her to the White House to meet President Biden.
Schroeder let me follow her through her beautiful restaurant, where we talked about the many ways she works as an artist, directing everything from the visual details of the front lobby, through the changing flavors on the menu, to the logistics behind it all. Running a restaurant post-COVID has her “hustling, more hustling” as she puts it, collaborating with other artists to make experiences that pull people off the couch and back downtown.
Find her work here: https://www.mothersbistro.com
H. Joseph Ehrmann-known simply as H.-is a liquor and cocktail artist with a mile-long resume. He owns Elixir, the second-oldest saloon in San Francisco, which he remade into both a friendly watering hole and a serious stage for master distillers, brand ambassadors and the like to nerd out before lucky revelers like me. He travels the world developing new cocktails, teaching classes and consulting, and he operates Fresh Victor, a new cocktail mixer company, with products available soon at stores near you.
In this impromptu interview, H. shows my wife, Whitney, and me his garage lab, aka the “bar-rage,” the unassuming hideout where he invents incredible flavor combos. Find him on Instagram @cocktailambassadors and visit his bar when you’re in the Bay Area.