Meet the Finalist- The People Behind the Pour — Bar & Beverage Team Finalists
- Justin Morales
- Oct 12
- 3 min read
If the kitchen is the heart of a restaurant, the bar is its pulse. It’s where chemistry happens—literal chemistry, human chemistry, liquid chemistry. The bartender is the alchemist, the conversation launcher, the one who remembers your drink when you don’t.
This year’s CRA Crazies finalists for Bar & Beverage Team of the Year are among Connecticut’s best. In a state packed with thirsty crowds and high standards, getting nominated isn’t easy. It means your team showed up night after night, poured with precision, and turned drinks into moments.
🍸 A Personal Pour
As a past winner, this one speaks to me. 2017 was my year. Long ago—but not long enough to forget the gratitude.
Then in 2024, one of my coworkers, the great Suzie Johnson, took home the award, and I got to revel again in that same glory—this time through someone I respect deeply.
This year, they’re changing the category from Bartender of the Year to Bar Team of the Year.
I’ll be honest—I don’t fully agree. A bartender, to me, is defined by their own rhythm, their own craft. The team is crucial—no doubt—but the connections made across the bar happen on a different level.
As Dale DeGroff once said, “I go to bartenders; I don’t go to bars.”
Either way, this pool of nominees is packed with talent.
The bar position is special. It blends culinary instinct, hospitality savvy, and operational precision. Behind every drink, there’s a split-second dance of management—people, money, safety, inventory—all balanced while maintaining a smile.
🥃 Finalists — Bar & Beverage Team of the Year
(per the Connecticut Restaurant Association’s 2025 Crazies Awards)
Beauty & Essex | Mohegan Sun
Drift | Essex
Hartford Flavor Cocktail Parlour | Hartford
I Know You Know | New Britain
Perfusion Bar | Newtown
🔍 My Take — From One Bartender to Another
Drift (Essex)They’ve brought tons of creativity to the shoreline. Led by Natasha Witik, they blend imagination with balance—every cocktail thoughtful, precise, and artful. Always impressed.
I Know You Know (New Britain)You need a code to get in, but once you do—you’re in for a ride. Andres and Marlon Soriano have built something special here: mystery with mastery. Even Atilio Lopez once graced this bar, and Augustin has the craft down to science—creative, deliberate, and never cutting corners.
Hartford Flavor Cocktail Parlour (Hartford)Nothing short of elegance in a glass. With Renee Strother behind the stick, expect precision and poetry in every pour. Passion and talent push her—and the team—toward perfection.
Perfusion Bar (Newtown)Always fun, fully immersed in cocktail culture. Matt Sedlak has always been, and will always be, a student of the craft. It shows—in his bar, in his leadership, and in the respect his team commands.
Beauty & Essex (Mohegan Sun)Flash meets finesse. They deliver Vegas-level spectacle with Connecticut-grade hospitality. It’s rare to find that balance, and they pull it off.
🧠 What This Category Represents
This year’s “Bar Team” field is a monster. Every nominee represents a different angle of the same truth: bartending is an art built on service, storytelling, and relentless repetition.
You can’t fake care. You can’t shortcut empathy. And that’s why this category will always be close to my heart.
Stay tuned for Edition 2: “Culinary Titans – Chef of the Year Nominees”, where we’ll move from the bar to the back of the house—and highlight the people whose craft keeps the heartbeat of Connecticut hospitality alive.
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