Arizona’s top mixologists may work behind the bar, but make no mistake, they are at the forefront of the epicurean evolution that has put State 48 on the map. Here are some of our favorites:
Clint Spotleson
Earlier this year, Spotleson took over bar operations at Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails, which is nestled into the ultra-chic Hotel Palomar Phoenix, a glistening jewel in Downtown Phoenix’s culinary crown. This Tiki-mug collector first made his name in the industry more than 20 years ago, and has since led the cocktail programs at Counter Intuitive and the Second Story Liquor Bar in Scottsdale. He briefly left the Valley after being recruited to Herbs & Rye in Las Vegas, where his team won coveted industry awards including “Best American Bar Team” and “Best High-Volume Cocktail Bar” by Tales of the Cocktail. Back now to stay, Spotleson’s aim with the Blue Hound program is to focus in on the venue’s vast brown spirit collection as well as its gins. The crew is building homemade syrups and tinctures to enhance flavor profiles and innovate recipes that echo the vibe of each season. Expect the unexpected from Spotleson’s menus, launching in October—red bell pepper syrup, anyone?
Christiaan Röllich
Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa bar chef Christiaan Röllich—a native of the Netherlands—initially moved to Los Angeles in 1997 to be an actor. In his spare time between auditions, not to mention serving as Brad Pitt’s body double in Ocean’s Eleven, Röllich worked behind the bar at the James Beard Award-winning restaurant Lucques, known for using sustainable, seasonal ingredients before it was trendy. Eager to ensure the bar program matched the quality of the ultra-fresh food, Röllich spent all of his spare time hand-making bitters, liqueurs, vermouths and more, leading the program to be lauded as among California’s best. The recipes Röllich innovated, both at Lucques and sister concept A.O.C., became that of legend. He eventually authored Bar Chef: Handcrafted Cocktails, published in 2019. Amid the pandemic, Röllich relocated to the Valley for his current position with Sanctuary, where he has reignited the resort’s beverage program while launching his own cocktail brand, Golden Eagle Spirits, to boot! www.sanctuaryaz.com
Nick Williams
Like Hein, Williams parlayed his skills behind the bar into ownership of a growing restaurant group. It all started when THAT Place Projects founder Kevin Heinonen hired Williams as a bar back for Tinderbox Kitchen and Annex Cocktail Lounge in Flagstaff in 2013. The cocktail novice worked side-by-side with bar manager Corey O’Donnell and general manager Jeremy Lane, soaking in what felt like a bachelor’s and then master’s degree in spirits, fresh juices, bitters, aromatics, and flavor profiles. Inspired by his mentors and buoyed by his impressive palate, Williams began experimenting with recipes, loving nothing more than taking a classic cocktail and turning it on its head. He also innovated menus for new concepts as they opened under the brand, notably Tourist Home All Day Café. By 2017, he was not only leading the brand’s beloved cocktail programs; he bought into the business as an owner. Once a partner, his star continued to rise, as did the level of sophistication of his menus. In 2018, Annex earn the coveted title of Best Cocktail Concept by Restaurant Hospitality. Currently, Williams is busy finalizing each of the venues’ fall and winter menus while opening a new concept for the brand, Teatro, also in Flagstaff. The passion of Williams, Heinonen, and their team has helped transform the south side of downtown Flagstaff into one of the fast-growing culinary hotspots in the state.
Kyla Hein
Though Kyla Hein had bar gigs at Rosati’s, Arena Sports Bar, K O’Donnell’s, and Four Peaks, she did not get the true cocktail bug until she took a job at Market Street Kitchen in 2016. There, bar manager Garrit Guthrie mentored her and together they earned the 2017 Foodist Award for best beverage program. When Guthrie departed, Hein was named bar manager despite being eight months pregnant with her first child. She stayed with the brand several years, notably through its conversion to Liberty Station, before departing in 2019 to tend bar at Pigtails Desert Ridge. That same year she also won the Arizona Tiki Oasis Bartender Battle with a cocktail called the Desert Dame, earning the nickname ‘Desert Dame of Dram’. Over the past three years, Hein’s trajectory has been jet-fueled. Not only is she the bar director for both Pigtails’ Valley locations, but she is now co-owner of the brand. She also spearheaded the 2021 opening of Rough Rider in Phoenix, while pregnant with her second child, no less.
Luke Mayer
Luke Mayer’s hospitality career began in his early teens as his best friend’s dad owned the 5 & Diner at Arizona Mills Mall. Despite the retro uniforms, complete with a bowtie, Mayer loved the camaraderie and energy of the restaurant setting. He would move on to Hyatt Gainey Ranch before graduating high school, and then worked behind bars all over town as well as in San Jose and Santa Barbara for years. By 2004, he was recruited to lead the bar program at Milagro Grill in Arcadia. While there, he frequented the semi-secret bar a few doors down, Little Woody. And while he would go on to lead the bar program at the Saguaro after Milagro Grill, Mayer never forgot about Little Woody. Fast-forward to 2016, and Mayer sees a massive structure being erected in his hometown of north Scottsdale. That structure? The Vig McDowell Mountain Ranch. The owners? Genuine Concepts, the same parent company for Little Woody. Feeling as if it was fate, Mayer took a job there, quickly being promoted to bar manager. By 2019, he was named the bar director for all of the Genuine Concepts, including his beloved Little Woody and Vig locales statewide as well as The Womack, MacMillan, Campo, and the newly opened Genuine, where he is having the time of his life going big on presentation and spirits that pack a punch.
Caleb Shroyer
Korean-born, Mesa-raised Caleb Shroyer always planned to work in restaurants. However, the intent was to be a chef. In fact, after high school, Shroyer was accepted into the hospitality program at Northern Arizona University to study just that. However, once into the program, Shroyer realized cooking full-time was not his passion. Over the next several years, Shroyer began a spirited journey, taking hospitality and eventual bar positions with Beaver Street Brewing and Root Public House up in Flagstaff as well as with Disneyland in California and even time abroad in France. By his senior year of college, Shroyer developed a distilled spirits and mixology class at NAU despite still being a student. He was so talented that the faculty members even allowed him to write the course material and lead the class! Once he graduated, Shroyer made his way back to Phoenix where he honed his craft with Fox Restaurant Concepts. Later, Caleb moved to Napa to run a cocktail program for a resort, followed by the James Beard Award-winning Charlie Palmer Steak Napa. Eventually wanting to make his way home, Shroyer joined Common Ground Concepts in 2019. Upon return Shroyer plotted out cocktail programs for a handful of new concepts chef-owner Christopher Collins had in mind, which became The Neighborly and Collins Bros. Today, Caleb is working with Collins to elevate the programs across each of the other restaurant brands—The Macintosh, Wally’s, Grassroots, The Collins—and is preparing to open St. Urban by year’s end.
Written by Alison Bailin Batz
Photography by Luke Irvin