Interview with 2013 San Francisco Bay Area Rising Star Chef Josh Harris

Katherine Sacks: What drew you to restaurants and in particular, to mixology? 
Josh Harris: What got me into mixology was opportunity. I had sort of a handful of bar jobs early in college, one of those jobs was my first bar manager job and it was sort of exciting for me. When that job ended, there was an opportunity at a bar down the street. The owners said they wanted to do a mixology kind of program, and they were like 'Can you do that?' All the bars I had worked out of previously were sort of the anti-cocktail bar, but I looked right at them and said 'Absolutely I can do that.' So I went around to bars in town doing good cocktails and put together a menu and one thing led to another.

KS: Were you trained in bartending or mixology?  
JH: I’m mostly self-taught, but when I was a younger bartender I sort of used to attend some of the USBG [United States Bartenders Guild] meetings. That was the first generation of cocktails, and I learned when to stir, when to shake things. The closest thing I’ve had to a mentor is my equal and business partner Scott [Baird]. We’ve been great for each other in that regard.

KS: How do you develop your recipes?
JH: Scott and I have some basic structures that we build our drinks around, principles of balance that we know to be true. Basically you have to consider flavor and flavor combination and you also have to consider brand. There needs to be enough ingredients on paper so it’s not so weird, so it’s still approachable on paper but still taking a step forward. You want to accomplish this thing that is you but reads approachably and satisfies what the customer is looking for; it’s a combination of all those things.

KS: What ingredient or spirit do you feel is underappreciated or under utilized? 
JH: The thing we push on really hard is sherry; it might be underused nationally but it shows up in a lot of the bars we are around. I think what is underappreciated might be the whole range of sherries; sherry as an entire category, the different sherry houses and different expressions, the diversity of options that are out there. Also more culinary associated spices, things that would be in any general line up in jars. Moving away from the cinnamon and star anise, and using bizarre herbs and spices that chefs use all the time.

KS: What are some of your favorite bars?
JH: Harvard and Stone, in Los Angeles. I’m a big fan of Employees Only in New York. I think that one of the threads that run through both is really high, awesome energy. They take the cocktails seriously but than there is more, whether it is music, food, flow of the room.

KS: Is there a particular charity that you support?
JH: We do Pig & Punch parties in three cities, New York, New Orleans, and Portland. In two of three, the beneficiary is the KIPP Public Charter Schools, so the overarching things would be charter schools. Wherever possible we work with KIPP, they are really cool. The ultimate goal is to break the event free from only cocktail events and get into food events and then outside of that. Hopefully we can do a lot of good one day.

KS: What's next? Where will we find you in five years?
JH: Probably still based in San Francisco and hopefully with more brick and mortar spots other than Trick Dog. Continuing to grow the company, Bon Vivants, and working with interesting clients and projects.