by Steven Doyle
Just over a month ago The Outpost began its local celebrity bartender night where they invite personalities from the area to bring their amateur bartending skills to the small Oak Cliff restaurant located on Beckley. The new owners, the same folks who brought us the wildly popular restaurants Bolsa and Smoke, to name a few, have taken an exciting pro-active leap to make Outpost a fun neighborhood destination.
Besides bringing in Smoke’s chef Tim Byres to update the menu, a special attention to fantastic cocktails and local brews as well as some exciting entertainment weekly. Wednesday is when the guest bartenders shuffle in, and with them comes a fun few hours where they become the mixologist. In recent weeks there have been some fun guests pop by to ply their expertise with proceeds from the tip jar going to the bartender’s cause of choice. The gig starts at 6pm.
This Wednesday you will meet local Oak Cliff zealots, Rob Shearer and Amy Wallace Cowan. Together they will make some tasty cocktails. Below is the Outpost interview they extend to each visiting bartender.
Have you ever tended bar for a living?
No. Closest I ever got was waiting tables at a Mexican restaurant on the River Walk in San Antonio in high school. So if delivering margaritas from the bar to the table counts, I’ve got solid experience. And I’m not convinced Amy has actually held a full time job – but she has probably served more drinks on her front porch than many of our neighborhood bars. She’s the ringer in this dynamic duo.
What will you do with you tip money?
That assumes someone will want to tip us. And I think a more interesting question is what would we do *FOR* a tip. But we can cover that Wednesday night. Should folks decide to tip us, those funds will go to help cover the costs for the Mardi Gras Oak Cliff Parade coming up in 2 weeks!
Who is your bar tending role model?
Oso is hands down my bar tending role model. If you don’t know Oso, he’s the ‘bar back’ at Bolsa – but don’t let those ‘fancy’ mixologists fool you. I have it on good authority that Oso has been making every cocktail at Bolsa for the past 5 years – and he just hands them to the bartenders to give to the customers.
Are you making anything special?
Amy and I are big talkers – some say we’ve got the biggest mouths in the neighborhood. So our signature cocktail is appropriately called ‘The Big Mouth’. It is sweet and boozy – just like us.
What are you afraid of behind the bar?
I’m a little afraid of Amy drinking more cocktails than we sell – so please come out and help balance it out. It will be awkward if the biggest tab of the night is from the bartenders!
