Sanctuaria’s recent hiring of Joel Clark brings Pi’s talented bar manager to the wild tapas eatery in The Grove. As lead bartender, Clark told Sauce that he’ll be supporting bar manager Matt Seiter who has been running ragged shaking up original cocktails like Wascally Wabbit, The Prince of Jalisco and 47th Ward while also grabbing fresh herbs, flowers and vegetables from Sanctuaria’s patio. Somewhere in-between, he’s found time to turn out infusions and other crafty concoctions.
With Clark and his six years of experience behind the bar, Seiter will be freed up to “create more tinctures and bitters and get out on the floor to talk with customers,” said Clark. Considering Seiter’s penchant to create and educate – after all, he was a teacher once upon a time – plus Clark’s affinity toward “classic simplicity” and “boozyness,” as he stated during a previous interview with Sauce, we’d agree with Clark that he and Seiter “will be a good pair.” You can find Clark behind Sanctuaria’s bar beginning next week.
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2010.