This week, Tim and Danny sit down with Katie Renshaw, founder of Bar Bambi and 2019 U.S. World Class Bartender of the Year. Katie traces her unlikely path from software development into Chicago’s cocktail world, the bars and mentors that shaped her, the intensity of competition bartending, and the leap from working behind the bar to opening one of her own. They get into the long, unglamorous process of building Bar Bambi and the care, ambition, and point of view behind what Katie ultimately created: a bar where deeply technical, flavor-first cocktails, a genuinely serious food program, and warm, unpretentious hospitality all feel of a piece. She talks about assembling the right team, the realities of ownership, and the obsessive work behind seemingly effortless drinks, from force carbonation and clarification to centrifuges and multi-day prep.
Also: drinking on the job in the old days, 14-hour Moneygun shifts, blood clarification, Speed Rack training software, and so much more!
Listen to this episode