Tag: Miles Macquarrie

I worry the classic Manhattan is going the way of the martini: another opportunity for barkeeps to futz around with annoying techniques and show-offish ingredients. Plus: In previous decades, chefs had to be Japanese if they wanted customers to take their sushi seriously. They had to be born in Spain to attempt paella. This attitude seems quaint in an era when scholarly approach trumps birthright.

There’s no formal mocktail menu, but Miles Macquarrie and his team of challenge-loving bartenders need just a few key words to assemble something intoxicating in every way but one.

Kimball House's Miles Macquarrie discusses Sazeracs, hangover cures, and his weirdest customer.

Booze followers should know that a sizable chunk of Atlanta’s mixological talent will be in one place this Saturday— Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens in Decatur—crafting drinks for charity.

Decatur’s best mixologists will join forces at the end of the month for a two-day drink fest at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel and Decatur Conference Center. The inaugural craft cocktail seminar, Decatur Stirs, will include five workshops, as well as a tasting event on Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1.

Kimball House mixologist Miles Macquarrie has created a number of cocktails especially suited to pair with the restaurant’s extensive raw oyster selection. This light, herbal champagne cocktail (“basically a mash-up of a French 75 and a Last Word”) is one of his favorites.

A major change of guard took place at LEON’s Full Service earlier this fall, but if all goes as planned, the only difference guests will note is new leadership. Longtime LEON’s barkeeps Shanna Mayo and Kathryn DiMenichi now co-manage the heralded program after restaurant-opener Miles Macquarrie headed down the road to oversee drink happenings at Kimball House. Mayo and DiMenichi share around 20 years of bar experience between them, and spearhead a stellar team that make, pour, and expertly recommend their way around craft cocktails and beer, and an inviting wine list.

The original Kimball House, a hotel that took up an entire city block, opened in 1870 in the area bound by Peachtree Street, Pryor Street, Wall Street, and Decatur Street. The new Kimball House—a restaurant with former Joël line cooks Jeffrey Wall and Philip Meeker in the kitchen and ex-Leon’s mixologist Miles Macquarrie behind the bar—opens in Decatur tonight. Housed in an old train depot at 303 East Howard Avenue, Kimball House will serve dinner nightly. Below, Meeker shares his inspiration for the menu and tells us what to expect.