The Negroni is Layla Linehan’s favorite cocktail. So we’ll lift one in her honor as we ponder just how much one bartender can accomplish in a year. With more than seven years of bartending experience, this alum of Pi Pizzeria, Monarch and Demun Oyster Bar has shaken things up at Brasserie since coming aboard as its bar manager in 2013. Her philosophy about Brasserie’s cocktail menu: Keep things approachable; after all, cocktail bar Taste is right next door.
Linehan was a rocks star on the 2013 cocktail competition circuit, winning the Big O competition, placing third in the Midwest finals of the Four Roses bourbon competition and taking first in the local round of the Campari competition, which earned her a spot at the finals in Portland, Ore. Informally a brand ambassador for locally made The Big O, Linehan is poised to make a national splash now that she’s been named brand ambassador for Phenix Brands. She’ll split her time working the wood at Brasserie and raising a glass to Samogon, Shpilka vodka and other spirits in Phenix’s growing portfolio. “I’m always trying to better myself,” Linehan said. “I want to keep learning, or I feel stagnant.”
This article appears in April 2014.