Kent Bearden, a certified specialist of sprits and general manager of Invited Clubs-operated 27,000-square-foot Tower Club Dallas, will be the guest on this month’s DrinkedIn Live, at 3 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 23.
Bearden, an expert in adult-beverage programs as well as a seasoned restaurateur, and DrinkedIn host Ron Ruggless, senior editor with Nation’s Restaurant News, will be mixing a Sorry, Papi — a cocktail with mezcal and Fresh Victor jalapeno and lime juice — while discussing platforms from which operators can expand sales, including add-ons to catering, private-party offerings and general broad and interesting beverage programs.
The DrinkedIn Live event is free and available on Linked In.
Bearden is a 20-year food and beverage industry veteran who is also involved in the reimaging of the La Cima Club in Irving, Texas, which will reopen at the end of March as a yet-unnamed concept after a sixth-month renovation. That venue is also operated by Dallas-based Invited Clubs.
Bearden has held numerous senior and executive level positions in establishments such as Carmine’s of New York City and the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Prior to joining Invited Clubs in December 2020, he served as director of revenue for the Paséa Hotel & Spa in in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Bearden was named emcee and host for the Cocktail of the Year Competition 2020 presented by the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Beverage programs are vital to well-rounded operations, Bearden said.
“It's extremely important,” he said, “not that everything has to have some elaborate Unicorn-type name. Some things can be just pretty straight forward and simple. A name says a lot about the generation of the cocktail, about where it came from.” For example, the Sorry, Papi cocktail name comes from a song by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and Abra, and it came from one of Bearden’s managers.
The pandemic’s effect is being seen in beverage programs, with the category leader being spirits, Bearden added. “I think that the pandemic created a tremendous amount of remedial home mixologists,” he said, “and I think the wonderful part about that is that it's spiked the interest now. They want to come to your bar, and they want to see how you make that cocktail.”
Bearden will also discuss how his operation taps into local charities with concerts, how it capitalizes on special education programs and provides spirits and cocktail experiences as add-ons to private dining.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless
