Meet the Mixologist: Kirk Gibson

Kirk Gibson is the beverage director at Lucky Star in Atlanta.

What was your first job in the beverage or hospitality industry?

Technically my first job was a host at Ruby Tuesday when I was 16 years old, but my first job at a cocktail bar was in Decatur, GA, at a now-closed spot called The Pinewood. I sat at the bar for months as a guest before pestering them to hire me as a barback, and the rest is history!

What is your favorite spirit to work with at the moment?

I think it is and has always been rum. Bartenders I’ve worked with always push me to go beyond rum, but I just love how flexible it is.

If I want a clear spirit in a light, shaken drink, I can go with a blanco rum. If I want an aged spirit that works in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan, I can go with an aged rum like (my favorite) El Dorado 12.

Or if I want something funky that mimics how tequila acts in cocktails, I’ll reach for an agricole. And there’s plenty of overlap between these categories!

What is the focus or specialties of the beverage program at Lucky Star?

I love working with fresh or local ingredients, and I hate waste. For example, the blueberries and persimmons  in our cocktail omakase are foraged, and we buy our yuzu from local Georgia farms.

For reducing waste, we’ve done things like use every part of the yuzu. The peel goes into oleo, and the remaining peels are dehydrated and nitro-muddled, the juice goes into syrups, the remaining hulls either become biters or preserved in salt for future Margaritas, and so on.

Can you tell us about the cocktail omakase the restaurant recently launched and how it’s evolving?

Chef Jason Liang and I love the idea of omakases because they showcase the chef’s talent, and I love the surprise of getting courses I maybe didn’t expect. We launched our cocktail omakase at the beginning of June, and it’s gone far better than I expected.

The theme of the first two months was “Dinner” where the drinks were inspired by traditional dinner courses (bubbles, appetizer, entree, desert, coffee). Our current menu is “Summer Crops” and we’re working on a holiday menu.

Can you share more about the nonprofit Giving Kitchen and how you work with them?

Giving Kitchen is a nonprofit that assists food service workers in crisis. We do this in two ways — our financial assistance program that can cover rent and utilities for a food service worker facing injury, illness, loss of their immediate family members, or natural disasters like floods or fires.

We can also help with our Stability Network that connects people to local organizations that can help with other things like mental healthcare, doctor’s appointments, legal services, and so on. I am our researcher, so I measure the effects of our programs, assist the fundraising team with why it’s important to help food service workers, and generally help our executive team keep tabs on the volume of requests and how we might improve service.

In general, what drinks do you see guests enjoying or asking for these days?

As with everyone, I’ve seen a rise in nonalcoholic drinks. We have a few drinks that cater to that, but we try and always be ready with something fresh that’s off-menu in case someone is not drinking or drinking less.

Beyond that, I have been heartened by the volume of cocktail omakase we’ve had. I think people are willing to try new things, even if they may not love every course it’s something so important in the food world that I have loved how it’s translated to beverages.

What’s your current go-to cocktail or beverage?

Three answers in order of their complexity (sorry, I get grief for being long winded).

1) A Bijou — it’s my favorite classic cocktail. Equal parts gin, green chartreuse and sweet vermouth with orange bitters. If a bar can make it, I’m ordering it and loving it, whether it’s a classic or a riff.

2) A wine from a region I’m unfamiliar with. I grew to love wine (passed my level 2 CMS exam) and so I get excited if somewhere has a wine that is from somewhere I’m not as well versed in, or that is made in an unusual style.

3) The thing I haven’t had before. I always order the most unusual cocktail on the menu, or if I see an ingredient that I know is hard to prepare, I gravitate towards it.

Would you share a recipe for one of the most popular at your bar, or one of your favorite drinks?

Here’s one for a classic Bijou.

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