In the weeks leading up to Dish Fest, we’re presenting our readers with exclusive chef interviews so they can learn the stories behind the Best Dishes being served at the third annual food festival.
In Good Spirits Hospitality Group, owned by Bernie Kantak and Andrew Fritz, recently added Beginner’s Luck in Old Town Scottsdale to its family of restaurants, which includes Citizen Public House and The Gladly. We recently spoke with marketing manager Hannah Lyons about the cocktail that the Beginner’s Luck staff will be serving at Dish Fest on Sunday, March 17.
What cocktail will you be serving at Dish Fest?
We are doing an iced Chai-rish Coffee. It’s essentially a chai-infused take on an Irish coffee, with Irish whiskey, chai, cold brew and then we do a little bit of hand-stiffened heavy cream on top. We just served it at Devour and people absolutely loved it. It’s so tasty.
Why did you choose this cocktail?
It has slowly become the favorite drink of Beginner’s Luck. It’s probably between that and the Sorbet Mimosa that gets ordered the most. I think it’s because we’re more of a breakfast/brunch place during the day, but it’s also a really good cocktail to drink with dinner. The Chai-rish Coffee is like the espresso martini, but with a more playful take. We serve it exclusively at Beginner’s Luck.
Who came up with the idea for Chai-rish Coffee?
We were doing a chai tasting at Beginner’s Luck before we opened – me, the beverage director, Chef Bernie and some other people. Bernie tasted the chai and he said, “We should make a chai version of an Irish coffee – a chai-rish coffee. I’ve been saying this for years.” He really is kind of a genius. Anything that comes out of his brain is successful.
How is it going at Beginner’s Luck?
We’ve been open now for just over a month for brunch and we’ve only had a week of service for dinner. Dinner is off to a slow start, but we haven’t made an official announcement yet. We’ve been absolutely slammed for brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.
