Eryn Reece is an American bartender. She is the bar director for Banzabar and Freemans Restaurant, both in New York City. In 2013, Reece was named Speed Rack National Champion. In 2014, ''

The Daily Meal The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. Launched in October 2010, it was the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group, founded by former Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller. In 2016, The Daily Meal, along with Spanfeller Media Group, was ac ...

'' named her one of the top 25 bartenders in the United States. Reece has been profiled in, and her work featured in, ''PUNCH'', ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'', ''

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, ''

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'',

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, and other media outlets.

Early life and education

Eryn Reece was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. She waitressed when she was a teenager. When she turned 21, she started bartending at Mona's Bistro in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. She moved to New York City in 2007 to intern at an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

as part of her undergraduate studies.

Career

In New York City, Reece first bartended at MercBar, followed by Bar Milano. In a 2013 interview, Reece called her time at Bar Milano as "the most eye-opening experience of my life," after working with Tony Abou-Ganim. She also worked at Louis 649, The Hideout, Dressler, Rye House,

Mayahuel Mayahuel () is the female deity associated with the maguey plant among cultures of central Mexico in the Postclassic era of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology, and in particular of the Aztec cultures. As the personification of the maguey plant ...

and Death & Co. In 2013, Reece was named Speed Rack National Champion. The following year, ''

'' named her one of the top 25 best bartenders in the United States. As of 2019, she serves as bar director at Banzabar and Freemans Restaurant, both on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. At Banzabar, Reece prepares low alcohol cocktails to be paired with a

tasting menu A tasting menu is a collection of several dishes in small portions, served by a restaurant as a single meal. The French name for a tasting menu is . Some restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other cases, it is a special o ...

by chef Humberto Guallpa, as well as serving an à la carte menu featuring beverages of various alcohol levels.

Style, cocktails and influences

One of Reece's signature drinks at Banzabar is Shackleton's Urn. The cocktail was inspired by the

Cobra's Fang The cobra's fang is a vintage tiki cocktail invented by Donn Beach that calls for a mixture of rums along with fassionola and falernum syrups, the juice of orange and limes, and a dash each of bitters and grenadine. The recipe from the book ''Haw ...

cocktail. It comprises two types of gin, rum, lime, passionfruit, ginger, cinnamon, and peach. It is served on crushed ice in an urn-shaped container with a lime lit on fire. The container was created specifically for the glass by a company in Portland, Oregon. Reece refers to ''Flavor Bible'' by

Karen A. Page Karen A. Page (born May 8, 1962, in Warren, Michigan) along with her husband Andrew Dornenburg, is a James Beard Award-winning author of a number of culinary-themed books. Among their books are ''Becoming a Chef'' (1995; 2003, 2nd ed.), ''Culina ...

and

Andrew Dornenburg Andrew Dornenburg (born December 18, 1958, in Concord, California) along with his wife Karen A. Page, is a James Beard Award-winning author of a number of culinary-themed books. Among their books are ''Becoming a Chef'' (1995; 2003, 2nd ed.), ''C ...

when creating new cocktails. In ''PUNCH'', Reece shared that Tyson Buhler's rye whiskey cocktail, the Warrior Poet, was one of the best drinks she had ever had. The worst drink she has ever had is Amaro Sibilla. Her favorite bar is Good Night Sonny and her "go-to" drink at a cocktail bar is a

Daiquiri The daiquiri (; ) is a cocktail whose main ingredients are rum, citrus juice (typically lime juice), and sugar or other sweetener. The daiquiri is one of the six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's classic ''The Fine Art of Mixing Dri ...

. In 2013, she named Joaquin Simo one of her favorite bartenders.

Personal life

Reece lives in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

References

Interview with Eryn Reece
on The Speakeasy podcast {{DEFAULTSORT:Reece, Eryn People from Portland, Oregon Living people People from New York City American bartenders Year of birth missing (living people)