Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tony Bennett. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Tony, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
This is not an easy question to answer, but to sum it up, the purpose we search for somehow found us. The many friends, trips and influences over the years have pointed to one singular component, and that is that we have so much to offer one another in a world driven by passion and a love of something. In our case, that is food and beverage in the world of hospitality. There is simply something that changes in you when the emergence of flavor and all the associated emotions that come as a result of the incredible dedication and hard work involved in our craft. It brings people together, elevates our senses, transports us to times and places long forgotten, and even forges new roads forward in relationships and communities. It is a beautiful thing to be a part of creating something that others will come to enjoy. It is sometimes easy to get lost and forget about the magic all around us in the busy world we live in today. Finding that harmony in between, where we remember why we do what we do and find time to escape and find that inspiration that creates growth among our team, our peers, our guests, that is what drives our purpose. A culture that thrives only to serve the common good of feeding our community great food and Libations. When you find that in your work, that purpose has found you.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Our journey began like many bartenders, through friendship, travel and a love for great food and drink. Searching different cultures for inspiration to blend and harmonize flavors back home was something I didn’t know at the time would lead to such a fulfilling career path, or even a business relationship with these same friends, but here we are. As most bartenders know, there is something special about having your hands directly involved with the flavors and satisfaction of our patrons; a chef with liquids if you will. Most of our drive to create something unique and conceptually outside of the box really stemmed from the different viewpoints our partner group has, all enhanced by our different backgrounds in the hospitality world, and having worked in so many different locales and regions it was incredible watching the blending of all our concepts come together so naturally.
The year 2020 didn’t make it easy on anyone, and we had just secured our space as of March 5th, just 11 days before the initial closures swept through California. We refused to let it dampen our spirits and fought on through online at home bartending classes, participation through USBG online and takeout ordering when allowed. Needless to say, we finally got to share a bit of our dream in the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
The Alchemists Garden really leans into botanical and garden driven concept of fresh herbs, local farm sourced ingredients and the alchemical style of scientific ingredient creation and pairing. During our initial phase of development we had somewhere around 100 6oz mason jars littering our kitchen & bar with different weights and types of ingredient infusions being tasted several times per day to create our first cocktail menu base. Choosing this method allowed the flavors to be more of focal point of the main body of each spirit, allowing us to season through more subtle or intense modifiers that could pull out delicate or more pronounced flavors while hopefully maintaining clean and linear flavors. This is how we envisioned our menu – built like a plate of food to grow and become better as you sip, changing for the better.
Whimsical approaches to cocktails also bled heavily into our food and kitchen, with menus designed to showcase vegetables and dietarily friendly dishes as a standard with family style dining meant to bring people together over sharing bites. Our dream has been to have a cocktail centric restaurant with incredible food that was creative and unique to us by blending flavors from around the world, and in the heart of Paso Robles Wine Country we feel it has brought something that can bring and unexpected dynamic to your weekend getaway (we do offer plenty of incredible wine if that is your cup of tea!).
You never know what you will see the next time you pop in either, with seasonal specials changing weekly to our full menu rotations for the seasons offering a variety of items that keep us creatively on our toes.
One of our more unique additions has been a new concept hidden at the back of our property called The Remedy. Our concept in here was to bring the true science of cocktails and what we do in the kitchen more to the guest through a handmade cocktail cart tailored for the room. We offer only 12 seats in The Remedy by reservation only, with all service happening tableside, allowing much of the show that is molecular gastronomy and mixology to happen right in front of our guests.
The Admiral is a riff on a classic white Negroni utilizing nitros oxide rosemary infused gin, a lemon peel + clove + chamomile pollen infused Lillet Blanc that we purge with argon to ensure no oxidation occurs once that vermouth is open, Italicus and saline. The garnish of the cocktail is a tableside direct spherication of modified campari to enjoy off a pearl caviar spoon for a textural elevation of flavor. It has truly been an incredible time to be part of the hospitality world where the path that so many chefs have worked for so many years to bring techniques like this to the table. We now have the opportunity to work with techniques such as this for cocktails and share with our guests in an 18th Century setting more akin to a British library than a cocktail bar.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Community is the heart of what built the foundation of where the skills and knowledge stem from. I will never forget the first time I traveled to LA to compete in a bar competition as a finalist in the Woodford Manhattan Experience. It was humbling. Coming from a relatively small community, we didn’t have much to offer in the way of preparation for bar competitions in general, so it was incredible to see this event unfold as a competitor where my major focus was on flavors, and less on presentation. The level of detail, organization and speed that was articulated by each competitor was fierce and ignited something that has been foundational to my drive to creation. The relationships built through traveling for these over the years became so important in finding inspiration, whether through allowing me to step away and out of my world of distraction at home and share in creation with other bartenders, or vice versa offering the same in return and having two points of view on how to approach the same result. It taught me to share as much with the team as possible in the hope that inspiration will strike them as well, as a rising tied does float all boats.
Second I would say is balance. As you progress through your field, you naturally get better as you learn more if your drive to succeed is strong and genuine. This applies to any field, but ours revolves around the world of alcohol. When your daily routines require you to taste, entertain and fuel the party that keeps patrons loving what you do, finding a way to balance this with a healthy lifestyle is crucial and was one of my most overlooked areas in the beginning of my career. What has come in the last few years has been so much more rewarding as a result of taking that step and the only regret that I had regarding it was that I was not able to see and do it sooner, and for that I have the incredible friends Alex, Andrew and Quin (our operating team at Alchemists Garden) to thank. What we have now is so much more beautiful and sustainable with the balance we all bring to each other and the concept, and it all goes straight back to the community we formed together over the last 10 years of our lives together.
The final component that truly made things click for me was a belief in the service and product we are providing. Our ethos. It is one thing to provide and sell a product because it can or will sell. It’s completely another to do so with something you love and truly believe in. This bleeds down into everything from ingredient sourcing practices to the relationships with your vendors. When they say you can taste the “Love” in food & drink, this is what I believe they are referring to. To a bartender or server, barback, expo, chef, sous chef or line cook, this can mean everything. The atmosphere we work in can have long hours, high volume or hyper intense plating and timing, so working in a place that is good for you is good for the company as well. If you don’t believe in the place you are at, it’s hard to believe in what you are creating. Don’t be afraid to explore other options to find that right fit. Everyone has a style that they naturally operate with, and to offer the best you have means finding someone/somewhere that will allow you to grow in your creative process or better yet, have a program to assist in cultivating that.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
One of my favorite books to date is The Cocktail Codex, written by the owners of Death & Co (incredible cocktail bar if you haven’t been) It single handedly covers the foundation of building cocktails in a simplistic enough approach for new and veteran bartenders to enjoy, and expands on the science of approach to many cocktails in some pretty incredible ways. The way it provides information is easy to absorb, yet leaves room to grow and be creative as it teaches from the perspective of a “cocktail family” using general rules as more of a guideline v.s. defined law. As you grow in your field, you will realize that your foundation has been made stronger than a process of trial and error, and before you know it you can internally create something as your own “foundation” to build upon with a balanced ratio of base, modifiers and seasoning agents to execute your vision. One of the hardest parts of this craft for me was getting comfortable with the creative side, never wanting a patron to be served a beverage they wouldn’t enjoy, so the tools this provides are in my opinion irreplaceable. It is my #1 recommended read to all of our team, and I cannot thank the Alex Nick & David for this incredible contribution to our industry. If you do not have a copy, get one ASAP, even if its just for your coffee table.
Please give photo credit to Sarah Kathleen Photography.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.alchemistsgarden.com
- Instagram: @alchemistsgardenca
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alchemistsgardenca/
Image Credits
All photography done by Sarah Kathleen Photography. Group photo: Left to right Nona Grancell Norin Grancell Quin Cody (front) Tony Bennett Andrew Brune Alexandra Pellot Single Bartender pushing cocktail: Andrew Brune
