Prior to my recent trip to Athens, I received several recommendations regarding what cocktail bars I should go to. Most I’d heard of before: The Clumsies, Line, The Bar in Front of the Bar, Baba au Rum.
The most valuable recommendation I got, however, was for a bar I had never heard anyone in the international bar industry mention. And it came from an unlikely source.
“Rec #2” read the text message from Sean Kenyon. I knew Kenyon slightly. A third generation bar owner, he is an eminence in the Denver cocktail scene, owning the famous bar Williams & Graham. I had interviewed him for my history of the cocktail renaissance, A Proper Drink, and found him to be a likable, down-to-earth guy.
I hadn’t seen Sean for years, however, when we ran into each other at the Athens Bar Show. His seminar took place directly before mine. I attended his, and later he was gracious enough to stick around for mine. We chatted a bit between the two talks, but I didn’t expect to hear from him further.
But the next day, he sent me a text.