JW Tate Leaving Dallas

by Steven Doyle

When Tate’s Craft Cocktails owner John Tate opened his second bar on McKinney Avenue we were thrilled. The smallish cocktail den served small bites and glorious cocktails. The opening manager was Matt Ceneviva who had previously managed the first location in Winston-Salem. After working the bar and getting the program up to speed Ceneviva moved back home to Winston-Salem. Enter JW Tate, a young but bad ass barman who had been honing his skills in New York.   

JW quickly made his way around the Dallas cocktail scene and became a staple for those in the know. He is one of the more respected bartenders in Dallas, and in 2012 we outed him as our favorite, which was an extremely difficult task considering the growing plate of talent we have in the city. JW has continually impressed us with his ability and knowledge which seems to increase exponentially.

Matt Ceneviva and John Tate

Tate recently informed us that he will be moving back to North Carolina to join Ceneviva to open a new restaurant as well as a Food and Beverage consulting firm. Robert Call will be taking the lead position at Tate’s in Dallas.

“Robbie will be managing the bar program. I am extremely confident in his ability to keep it going in a good direction. We’ve been working together 80+ hours for a year now and we are 100% in alignment when it comes to program aesthetic and hospitality,” said JW this morning.

We tried to get more information on the new restaurant but JW said it was a bit early in the planning stages, but he did say, “We’ll [Ceneviva] be working together on the restaurant and Old North State Beverage Outfitters, the consultancy, will be my full time job based out of Winston but working around North Carolina.  Matt my dad and I work really well together on creative and branding stuff so we’re going to enjoy all being in the same place and use it as an opportunity to make something special.”

Sounds like Tate’s will be in extremely capable hands, and we wish JW the very best on his new venture. Tate will be leaving Texas in three weeks. You can catch some of those mad skills at his upcoming rare whiskey dinner. Find out about that event here.