Bartender Interview: Miles Macquarrie
I've had the pleasure of having quite a few of Miles' creations over the years, so I was thrilled to finally go in and document his process a little bit. His skilled and technical approach of making drinks is only matched by his knowledge of the ingredients he's using. If you ever find yourself in Decatur, GA and yearn for a great drink and conversation, make your way to Kimball House. Check out his interview below.
Where are you from and what brought you to Atlanta?
I was born in North Hampton, MA, but moved to Daytona Beach, FL when I was 6, which is where I grew up. I had some friends move up to Atlanta, including one of my business partners, Matt Christison. I came up to visit and really liked the east side of Atlanta. I remember hanging out in the Brick Store Pub one night and thinking “I want to work here”. I moved here 10 years ago and never looked back (I do still miss being by the ocean).
What do you love most about Atlanta?
I love the season changes, the small pockets of different neighborhoods inside the city, and the friendly, non competitive nature of the food and beverage scene.
What are you looking forward to most in 2015?
I am really looking forward to continue to help shape the growth of Kimball House and to watch it continue to mature as a bar and restaurant. I feel very fortunate to still have the original bar staff from opening over a year and a half ago, and it excites me to watch us continue to grow as a team. Our chef, Jeffrey Wall and I have a really great relationship and always talk about flavors and how we can use new techniques to create flavor and I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish with things coming out of our garden this year. We are also in the process of preparing to build a private dining room in the back with its own small production kitchen & a full cocktail station so I’m really excited to see that come together.
What time do you usually wake up in the morning?
I wake up at 8 am Monday through Friday. I don’t set an alarm on Saturday and Sunday, so I will sleep until 9 or 10 on those days.
Describe your bartending path that led to Kimball House?
I did end up getting a job at Brick Store after lots of persistence and they eventually put me behind the bar where I stayed for about 3 1/2 years before I went over to help open LEONs Full Service. I was at LEONs for the fist 4 /12 years as the bar manager and I was lucky enough to have bosses that trusted me and let me learn along the way as I helped shape their bar into a cocktail destination. During my time there, my current business partners who were also my best friends at the time (we’re still friends, oddly enough) were working on planning to open a bar and restaurant. Over the years, our palates and ideas of our first place changed quite a bit.
What is your role at Kimball House and what’s the general day-to-day process?
I am one of the managing partners at Kimball House and my specific role is to manage the bar. I am in charge of keeping up with the revolving door that is our cocktail menu and I order and manage all the spirits as well as managing the bartenders and barbacks. The day to day process involves prep, ordering, R&D, coming up with new techniques and flavors, and trying to keep our menu fresh without ever rushing something new onto the menu. The goal is to have a few drinks that have already been tinkered with for a few weeks before they go to the menu so that when something runs out, it’s a natural process to fit something in it’s place that’s ready to go. We definitely focus on having the drinks feel classic and elegant, but we also make a lot of ingredients here which gives us the ability to bring fresh and new flavors to our guests. So once a cocktail has been tweaked to where we want it, We then add it’s ingredients to the prep list and start to work those ingredients in to the day to day production schedule. I also have been getting to manage the floor once a week which has been great as an owner to see more big picture things as opposed to being always hyper focused on the bar.
What was your introduction to cocktails?
Like many in Atlanta, my first introduction to cocktails was by the original H&F team, Greg Best, Reagan Smith, and Andy Minchow. They showed me the importance of balancing classic cocktails and using fresh juices and they have been great friends over the years.
Where do you draw your inspiration from? Any mentors along the way?
Inspiration can come from anywhere. It can be from a new ingredient, a classic cocktail structure, a dish you have somewhere, or changes in weather. Huge mentors have been my original bosses in Atlanta, now my partners, the 3 owners of Brick Store Pub and LEONs Full Service, Mike Gallagher, Tom Moore, and Dave Blanchard. They helped us open Kimball House and we have learned so much about how to run a bar and restaurant over the past 10 years.
What is one of your favorite cocktails made by someone else?
Kelli Thorn recently made me a cocktail at the end of our meal at Empire State South. It had scotch, cardamaro, and was atomized with grapefruit bitters. It had a great aroma and was bright and rich at the same time. Kelli and her team do an amazing job over there.
What is one of your favorite cocktails made by you?
When I decide to get into some of my personal rum stash, I really enjoy an equal parts manhattan with one of the vintage single island rums from plantation. I’ve made it with the bottling from Guyana and Jamaica and they were both amazing.
Where are some of your favorite places for cocktails (local or not)?
I’ll keep it local because there are a lot of great places right now
Empire State South
Paper Plane
The Pinewood
Leons Full Service
The Lawrence
Grain
H. Harper Station
Bocado
Cakes & Ale
Miller Union
Last Word
Too many to list, Sorry if I left anybody out!
What is the most difficult cocktail ingredient to pronounce?
Schladerer Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser
If given $100 and asked to buy all spirits/ingredients needed for a cocktail of your choosing, what would you purchase?
White Rhum Agricole
Green Chartreuse
Limes
Caster Sugar
If there is anything left over I would get a bottle of Champagne to drink after my daiquiri was gone.
