by Ebony L. Morman

Rare Roots Hospitality’s bar director Brittany Kellum is either always ready for the next thing or ready to grow in whatever way she can. It’s this mentality that took her from being a server at Dressler’s Restaurant, which she did while in college studying business, to being on Dogwood: A Southern Table’s opening bar team in 2014. 

“I don’t like to put a ceiling on anything,” she says. “I’m a forward-moving person, so when [the chance to be on Dogwood’s opening bar team] came about, it was an opportunity for growth and to learn something new, so I was all in on it but it was not something I was familiar with at all.” 

But Kellum’s eagerness to learn prevailed. Eight months ago, she transitioned into a bar director role for the restaurant group where she’s worked since 2011. Prior to assuming her current role, she was a bar manager for six years. Now, she splits her time between Fin & Fino Uptown, Chapter 6 in South End, and Fin & Fino Birkdale, which opened in February. 

She’s also busy with preparations for a new bar menu at both locations of Fin & Fino and at Chapter 6, all slated for early summer. And she’s gearing up for the return of Dogwood: A Southern Table at Uptown’s The Westin Charlotte, which is set for the end of this year. The restaurant served the SouthPark neighborhood until it closed its doors last year. 

Unpretentious Palate: How did your career in hospitality begin?
Brittany Kellum: It was never something I’d envisioned but I didn’t have a super solid vision of what I really wanted. It just kind of happened. I have found a passion for this industry, especially behind the bar. I think it’s so fun to provide people with an experience that they’ve never had or one that gives them the opportunity to try something totally new in a safe environment. 

UP: What’s your approach to mixology? 
BK: At Fin & Fino, our menus are super fun, adventurous, and playful. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, so there’s no need for the guests to, either, but we also offer what I hope that other people think of as a really strong and fun cocktail program. My goal has always been for a cocktail to be an accompaniment to the actual experience that you’re going to get, because you go to a restaurant for dinner, and a cocktail is something that’s just in addition to that. I try to come up with these menus that are not things that you can get anywhere else, and maybe something that you would never think to make for yourself at home — cocktails that are super fun, different, and playful but always really delicious and super drinkable. I love to fat wash or infuse [cocktails] and take whatever spirit or liqueur and mess it up, if you will, in whatever way to bring something that’s unique to the Fin & Fino, Chapter 6, and the whole Rare Roots experience. 

UP: Tell us more about fat washing. 
BK: People will use bacon fat or duck fat as a preservative. So you can use any sort of liquefied fat and it adds a silky smooth quality to the liquor. That gives it a different taste profile. 

UP: What’s the most interesting drink you’ve made this year? 
BK: The current menu that we’re doing at Fin & Fino in Uptown and at Birkdale is a greatest hits menu. I took a drink from each of our past eight menus. For the Birkdale opening, I wanted to pay homage to the cocktail program at the Fin & Fino Uptown by pulling drinks from all those menus. One that’s always stuck around that people still come back and order is called endless breadsticks. It’s a peanut butter and jelly old-fashioned with peanut oil and fat-washed bourbon. Once it strained, it essentially makes peanut butter bourbon and it comes with a blackberry jam. People either absolutely love it or they absolutely hate it. It 100 percent depends on how you feel about PB&J. If people are into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, they’ll usually absolutely love it. It’s weird and different but pretty delightful.

UP: Do you have any signature flavor profiles that you consistently use? 
BK: I rarely put things on the menu that I like because I can’t build a menu based on my personal taste. That’s very singular. Whenever I’m building out a new menu, I try to think about the people that are coming in to drink it. First and foremost, a cocktail should be the most drinkable thing on the planet. It should be the easiest thing that you do all day. It should be super easy, really delicious, and very enjoyable. But with that being said, I try to make sure I hit all the components of all the guests that are coming in, whether that means always having scotch, mezcal, bourbon, rye, gin, and tequila. It’s less about my personal favorites and more about what I know our clientele likes to drink. 

UP: How long does it take to develop each menu?
BK: We’ve been in conceptual talks about our next menu for probably three to four months. Overall, it’s probably like a four to five month process from start to finish—starting with conception, then working with our marketing team to get our vision down on paper and planning for the physical menu and its layout. By the time one menu is rolling out, we’re already starting to think about the next concept. Ideally, we’d like to change it twice a year but sometimes it doesn’t work out like that. 

Each menu that comes out is a huge process but it’s so much fun, especially for the bar team. It brings everybody into it. Nowadays, we have huge photoshoots that are set up with props. It’s just a part of our culture now. People really feed into it. There’s nothing more rewarding than putting out a menu and having guests come in and they see your vision and they’re into it. It’s a very humbling experience for sure. There’s a lot of love and passion that we’ve all put into it, not just myself but everybody that works there. 

UP: How has Charlotte’s bar scene changed since you started in the industry?
BK: It has evolved with the city of Charlotte as a whole. By that I mean the people who are coming in, they have evolved tastes and they’re willing to drink the more fun, different, and out of the box things people are doing. It drives that progressiveness, which I think is really cool. It keeps everyone leveling up. It keeps our guests always wanting to experience new and different things and they’re more willing to try them. If given the right atmosphere and the right trust factor, people are willing to try anything. I think that’s what it’s all about — offering a safe space for people to come to try something new and have confidence that they’re going to enjoy it because they’ve always had a good experience at that place. 

UP: If you weren’t in hospitality what would you be doing? 
BK: I stayed in it years ago because I just never was quite sure what my next step was. Fast forward, here I am. Now, I’m invested. This is the plan for me.