First Look: Tate’s Craft Cocktails

by Steven Doyle       photos by Steven Lindsey

We stopped in to check out Tate’s Craft Cocktails for their opening day and found owner John Tate tending to last minute details. We also had a few really great cocktails hand crafted by imported barman, Matt Ceneviva .

Matt actually relocated to Dallas from Winston-Salem where the original Tate’s is located and is now living in Deep Ellum. In the past months before moving to Dallas Matt had a chance to check out the competition, and he said he liked what he found, “I think I have been everywhere there is a good cocktail in Dallas. I enjoy what they are doing at Black Swan, and at Cedars Social. [Michael] Martensen is a genius, although we have never actually met.”      

Matt also spent time checking out the program at Marquee where he did meet Jason Kosmas who had a chance to mix up a few drinks for Matt. He has also been to the bar in New York that Kosmas has a stake in, Employees Only.

Now that Tate’s is open Matt has a chance to show off his talents behind the bar, and what we saw last night was impressive. As we had mentioned before, Tate’s is known for making pretty much everything that goes into a cocktail besides the actual booze itself. All the mixers including their soft drinks are all crafted by hand. Mountains of fruit are sacrificed each day as they hand squeeze plenty of lemons and oranges.

The bar bites are limited and are outsourced to a local catering company. Tate was reluctant to say who the company was, but did mention they are a major catering concern in Dallas. The food is really an after thought and not a major piece of the Tate puzzle.

“We think people will be stopping in before or after dinner for a really good cocktail. That’s what we specialize in,” said Tate.

Tate also thinks you might come in and try one of their small plates, like the meatballs or pork sliders, and decide to stick around a bit longer. The grand opening is Friday.