GARDEN & GUN PRESENTS THE SOUTH’S BARS Sure, they’ve got great drinks and distinctive settings. They might specialize in brandy or vermouth or, of course, whiskey, and the food sometimes rivals the meticulously crafted cocktails. But the best part? These recently opened establishments will make you feel right at home By WAYNE CURTIS The Run Devil Run at Atlanta’s Golden Eagle, with tequila, Scotch, lemon, cacao, orgeat, and bitters. 93 PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREW THOMAS LEE GARDEN&GUN FEB. / MAR. 2019 THE SOUTHERN CRAFT- THE SOUTH’S BEST NEW BARS COCKTAIL RENAISSANCE IS Alex&nder The Bluebird Cocktail Room STILL DOING BOFFO BOX LOUISVILLE, KY Est.: June 2018 BALTIMORE, MD Est.: July 2017 Joe and Lesley Heron made OFFICE—THE SHOW’S RUN IS a splash when they opened The cocktails at the Bluebird Copper & Kings distillery in are as sturdy as a three- Louisville in 2014, special- legged stool, served in a room izing in brandy. (Brandy! In with the feel of a well-funded NOW WELL INTO ITS SECOND Louisville!) They set up shop library at a small but presti- in a cathedral-scale industrial gious school. Add to that a building that happened to cocktail menu that’s chatty have a great top floor with without being overbearing, DECADE. BUT THE STAGE stunning skyline views. As of and a sense of communal last summer, the Herons have collegiality along a welcom- turned that perch into the ing bar and tables sized DIRECTION FOR THE CURRENT brandy-centric Alex&nder. for groups mid-room. Cool has legs? Consider that it’s Forget the club chairs and weather is a perfect excuse now reached Livingston, an smoking jackets of the bran- for a hot toddy with apple and unincorporated community dy dens of yore—it’s bright ginger, sipped while watching that was once listed in the SCENE HAS SEEN A CHANGE and contemporary, with an the daylight diminish outside 1902 inventory of “extinct adjoining rooftop deck, and the broad windows as the towns of Mississippi.” This an ideal spot to rethink what soft glow of the globes and distant suburb of Madison you know about this spirit. chandeliers quietly confronts (population 25,627) is now IN PROTAGONIST: the evening within. home to the Briar Patch, a beguiling spot with the vibe Babas on Cannon of an Edwardian bird hunting CHARLESTON, SC Bourbon on Rye club (see: painting of a point- “Exit: Mixologist. Enter: Bar- the new class of bar is bring- Est.: October 2018 LEXINGTON, KY er over the bar), a fine selec- tender.” Or, more precisely, ing back the lost art of hospi- Est.: October 2017 tion of cocktails in elegant reenter bartender. tality. Bartenders are acting Inspired by bars and restau- glassware, and punch by the The early acts of the revival like bartenders again, and rants they frequented in Bartenders or professors? bowl. Need ballast? The char- emphasized the specialized new venues are taking some Europe, Babas co-owners Hard to know at Bourbon on cuterie and shared plates can handiwork of drink masters of the settings we’re familiar Marie Stitt and Edward Rye, set on the ground floor turn a brief stop into a long, armed with eyedroppers and and comfortable with—the Crouse teamed up with of the Ballroom Building in pleasing afternoon. hand-carved muddlers and dive bar, the honky-tonk, the veteran barman Lane Becker downtown Lexington. Here, house-made this and that, classic corner tavern—then and launched this all-day “old the well-educated staff loves served up in hushed temples adding to the mix outstand- world café” in a former bar- to enlighten guests about Dot Dot Dot devoted to the bibulous arts. ing cocktails, a wine library bershop downtown. During the nuances of the noble CHARLOTTE, NC These places offered a distin- that runs quiet and deep, a the day you’ll find coffee brown spirits, with the pro- Est.: July 2017 guished alternative in a milieu mood that refuses to take along with pastries, salads, or fessors holding court in front still hungover from a long itself too seriously, and bar a chèvre and roasted carrot of a nineteenth-century “It’s only hard to find the first dalliance with Long Island food that doesn’t seem in the sandwich. Come evening you mahogany backbar. Order time,” says co-owner Stef- iced teas. But while the drinks same genus as cheese fries. can pivot to wines and enjoy by the dram, grab a private- an Huebner of his modern were delicious, something (Also, USB outlets.) aperitif bites—olives, cheese, selection bottle to go, or let speakeasy tucked behind a An old-fashioned at the Bluebird Cocktail Room. had been lost among the By definition, new bars pickled okra—in a cozy space your guide mix up something strip mall. Inside is a relaxing, Opposite, clockwise from mumbled incantations and are, well…new. They lack the that’s quickly gained a local memorable. casual space that doesn’t so top left: The Bluebird’s bar; muttonchops: that sense of natural patina that comes following. Cocktails don’t much call attention to itself as cucumbers with Aleppo feeling welcome, as if return- with age. Yet many of these stray far from well-crafted set a stage for fabulous cock- chile pepper and lime at ing home, even if you’d never Southern bars, all opened basics (Manhattan, gin and The Briar Patch tails and good conversation. Babas on Cannon; Babas’ beverage director Lane set foot there before. within the past two years, will tonic), or try sipping on a LIVINGSTON, MS Drinks are divided among Becker (left) and co-owner The drinks magic remains leave you feeling as if they’ve symbol of prosperity—Babas Est.: July 2018 “classics” and “house” cock- Edward Crouse. (there’s no better time since been around for a while. Put serves up fresh-squeezed tails, with the latter including the late 1800s to step out for a your feet up on the brass rail. pomegranate cocktails, with Is further evidence required such riffs as Burning Leaves, perfectly made Sazerac), but Settle in for the next act. your call on the liquor. Helen Norman Helen Norman; bottom and right: James Olivia Rae Top: that the craft-cocktail revival with mezcal, Chartreuse, 94 FEB. / MAR. 2019 GARDEN&GUN TYPE ILLUSTRATIONS BY LUKE LUCAS GARDEN&GUN FEB. / MAR. 2019 95 Toasting an evening at New Orleans’ Elysian Bar. THE SOUTH’S BEST NEW BARS and a syrup of cinnamon, that bridges the gap between nutmeg, clove, and anise. bar and restaurant. They of- This is ostensibly a member- fer seating upstairs and down ship club ( join online for ten in a renovated two-story dollars, or become a member bungalow, serving a range at the door), so “wear some- of classic cocktails both un- thing that you wouldn’t mind touched and revamped. The Five more fledgling wearing on a first date,” the name is a nod to their love of spots to belly up to this year bar advises. the Paris of the 1930s, and the downstairs has the charm of The Elysian Bar a French bistro, bolstered by Add to life’s certainties: Another bar will be open- a hefty dose of Georgia ingre- ing tomorrow, or next week. Keep your eye on these NEW ORLEANS, LA dients, from local cheeses to new places, from some of the South’s top drinks Est.: October 2018 a White Oak Pastures duck maestros, which were just on the cusp of throwing breast with charred eggplant open the doors at press time. The backbar rises like a and peaches. fevered swamp dream— stylized trunks of cypress The Crunkleton Gary Crunkleton did nigh the im- The Fox Bar trees as envisioned by a mild- Charlotte, NC possible when he opened his name- sake bar in Chapel Hill in 2006: He ly unhinged art deco artist. & Cocktail Club proved that refined drinking could Situated in the 1875 rectory NASHVILLE, TN survive and thrive in a college town, earning a national reputa- of a former church complex Est.: September 2017 tion along the way. Now Crunkleton is bringing that same court- a few minutes’ walk from the liness and flair to Charlotte, this time with bites to complement Marigny neighborhood’s A compact, cozy spot created the drinks. bustling Frenchmen Street by music industry pros Bryan Jewel The newest project from cele- (the complex is now a lovely Rushton and Andrew Cook, of the South brated Big Easy bartenders Nick new boutique hotel), the bar the Fox feels like a hidden New Orleans, LA Detrich (Cane & Table) and Chris lures hotel guests and neigh- room at the Church of Good Hannah (Arnaud’s French 75 Bar) borhood residents alike each Times—all tin ceilings, worn will be a paean to traditional New evening with light fare and antiques, and globe lamps. Orleans drinking. (It’s named after a once-famous bar where the drinks overseen by the tal- The cocktails, created by brandy crusta was invented.) Expect exemplary service with a ented team from Bacchanal local bar veteran Will Bene- heaping side of nineteenth-century New Orleans showiness. Wine and chef Alex Harrell. detto, are as deft as the club’s Kingfisher A former bar manager at Durham’s Order an exquisite Sazerac design, offering a sideways Durham, NC 21c Museum Hotel, Sean Umstead or select from a list of re- tour of the great tipples and is teaming up with his wife, Michelle freshing aperitif cocktails, their progeny without ever Vanderwalker, to open a new down- then find a seat where mood taking them too seriously.