Cocktails in the Desert? Scott Gardner of Water Witch

About this episode

Eli interviews Scott Gardner about the unique challenges and successes of running Water Witch, a cocktail bar in Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City shouldn’t be home to one of America’s best cocktail bars. And yet, despite Utah’s strange liquor laws and its distance from traditional cocktail meccas, that’s exactly what makes Water Witch so interesting. After the Blister team stumbled across Water Witch on a recent trip, Eli wanted to find out how owner / operator Scott Gardner built something so special in such an unlikely environment.  We Want to Hear from You! Have a topic, craft category, or craft company you’d like to see us cover? Email us at: info@blisterreview.com to share those or any other thoughts you have about CRAFTED. TOPICS & TIMES: About Scott (2:54) Alcohol Laws & Culinary Deserts (7:18) James Beard Award (13:16) Changes in Cocktail Competitions (17:51) Finding Mentors (21:12) Building Water Witch (24:11) Defining the Concept (31:06) Operations Management (39:14) Control State Woes (47:04) The Future of Utah’s Bars (53:14) Why Stay In Salt Lake? (57:10) RELATED LINKS: Water Witch Bar Nohm Blister Craft Collective Become a BLISTER+ Member SEE OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic Bikes & Big Ideas GEAR:30 Blister Podcast ENTER OUR WEEKLY GIVEAWAYS: Enter Our Free Weekly…

People in this episode

Host: Eli

Guest: Scott Gardner

Topics covered

• cocktail culture
• entrepreneurship
• liquor laws
• restaurant management
• mentorship
• bar operations

Keywords

• cocktails
• Water Witch
• Utah liquor laws
• James Beard Award
• bar management
• mentorship
• cocktail competitions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Water Witch

Places: Salt Lake City, Utah

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