Allen Katz (Instagram) founded the New York Distilling Company (website, Instagram) in 2011. He was in the industry for many years before this and during a trip to the town of Plymouth, England to visit the Plymouth Gin Distillery, Allen was overcome by the urban location of the distillery.

Many historic distilleries were often located in the countryside to be near the produce when it was harvested from farms. As a proud resident of New York City, this left him wondering if this might be possible in New York. Since its beginning, NYDC has focused on distilling products with historic ties to New York, specifically gin and rye whiskey.

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Not long into the running of the distillery, Allen found himself at Cornell’s College of Agriculture discussing grains with historical ties to the region. He was later sent 10 seeds in a white envelope called Horton Rye. After years of cultivating these seeds into an amount that could be field tested, 14 years later they now have a rye whiskey called Jaywalk Rye.

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Marshall Minaya (Instagram) is the beverage manager of Valerie, Madame George, and Lolita in Midtown Manhattan. The work of running three programs aside, we sat down to discuss his newest “project”, being a father to Florence, and how he is attempting to balance it with work.

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Today’s conversation is about the upcoming book The Bartender’s Pantry (website, Instagram), which was written by Jim Meehan (Instagram), Bart Sasso (Instagram), and (Instagram).

This multi-year project was catalyzed when Jim began to wonder if the teachings he’d learned about drink mixers and garnishes hadn’t reached the next generation of bartenders. At the same time, he reflected on some of the things he believed about them that he’d never investigated and verified.

In the book, you’ll find variety of categories to explore like sugars, grains, nuts, dairy, fruits, ferments, coffee, tea, and more.

In addition to being a partner in the Atlanta-based bar Ticonderoga Club, Bart’s background in design can be seen in illustrations throughout the book aimed at distilling kitchen projects onto one page.

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After years of being deep in research, testing, and writing, Jim and Bart asked (maybe begged?🙏) Emma to help them turn their mountain of information into a coherent and enjoyable story. Thus, the book is now here for all to read. It comes out on June 11th.

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