Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, the country’s premier culinary benefit for children’s hunger, is
ramping up its cocktail world efforts. In April in Washington, D.C., Derek Brown of The Passenger, Gina Chersevani of PS 7’s and Todd Thrasher of PX worked the sponsor lounge. In May in NYC, Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club, Julie Reiner and Brad Farran of Clover Club, Jim Kearns and Lynnette Marrero of Rye House, Jim Meehan of PDT, BR Guest’s Eben Klemm, Nicole Casanova and Lucinda Sterling of Little Branch, and reps from Cienfuegos and Painkiller served drinks, while in the VIP room, Charlotte Voisey, Eben Freeman and Dutch Kills’ Kerrin Egalka, Karin Stanley and Abraham Hawkins held court.
Coming up in Philadelphia on June 21, mixologist chair Phoebe Esmon of Chick’s Bar will organize service, while in Minneapolis on June 24, Johnny Michaels of La Belle Vie, Pip Hanson of Café Maude and Rob Jones of BradStreet Crafthouse will provide drinks. Finally, in Chicago on Aug. 12, city stars Debbi Peek of the Bristol, Lynn House of Graham Eliot, Peter Vestinos of Wirtz Beverage Group, Bridget Alpert of Southern Wine and Spirits, Charles Joly of the Drawing Room and Adam Seger of Nacional 27 head the mixological team.
Lucas Bols USA, importer of Bols Genever and Damrak Gin, hired DeJorn Huffman as its Chicago-area brand ambassador. Huffman bartended at SUSHISAMBA in Chicago for two years before managing the bar program at the Douglas Rodriquez restaurant Delacosta. She’s consulted for Moet Hennessey and Bacardi USA and has worked with Domaine de Canton in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. In addition to her job with Lucas Bols, she bartends part time at Sable, the new cocktail bar adjacent to the Palomar Hotel in Chicago.