by TM Petaccia

After years working in the wings at Haberdish and other Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group properties, Heather Hamilton now gets to run the show for ARDR Hospitality. The bar/restaurant group includes Lincoln Street Kitchen & Cocktails, The Green Room, Maíz Agua Sal (MAS), and Craft Tasting Room & Growler Shop.

As the group’s new beverage director, Hamilton takes over from Amanda Britton, who left to run the bar program for Sam Hart’s soon-to-open Spaghett.

“Amanda actually recommended me for the position,” she says. “Obviously, leaving T-D was a difficult decision. I loved my time there, but this opportunity allows me to oversee a full program and run the team, which I love to do. I also like to do administrative stuff. So getting a chance to do that and as well as come out on my own to expand my creative side was a big draw too.”

Currently, she is spending time at each property, getting to know the bar managers and experiencing the feel of each location. “The managers deal with the more day-to-day operations which allows me to be more of an umbrella,” she says. “It’s more about having face time with everybody, getting to know their styles, and then learning where I can provide support — maybe show a new technique I have learned or something else we could do a little better. I don’t want to be a micromanager, but I also want to uphold that we’re being the best in hospitality and do something we can all be really proud of.”

Hamilton has already begun making some small changes at Lincoln Street, but the upcoming spring cocktail menus will see her influence at all four concepts. Her plan is to collaborate in the creation process, incorporating the skills and ideas of her bar staff. “I’m shooting for 50/50,” she says. “We talk about changes we want to see — what’s exciting for you, what are you comfortable doing, what do you want to take a stab at? — and then we split up the duties. I want to bring my creativity and professionalism, what I think is fun, and see how that resonates with the team, and then allow them to shine as well.”

While Hamilton looks to offer a diverse choice of spirits at each concept, she admits a favorite or two may be seeing some focused menu space. “My current love is cachaça (a sugarcane-based spirit)”, she says. “Shortly after I started at Lincoln Street, I put a cachaça cocktail on the menu. I also have something similar that’s been one of our features at MAS. I love the funkiness of that. So we’ll probably see a few more cachaça cocktails.”

Changes will be coming to Craft Tasting Room as well. “Craft has such a smaller cocktail program,” Hamilton says, “but we’re also going to be making some new things for the spring there also.”

One of her goals is the revitalization of The Green Room, the speakeasy concept inside Lincoln Street, which has become more of an event space than a bar with regular hours. “We’re trying to pull it out of that so we can really have a fun place for people to come and experiment a little bit outside of regular volume.”

“I’m working on it, hopefully coming later this spring.”