Interview: Bartender, Patty Dennison of Grand Army

As the winner of the 2022 Woodford Reserve Master of the Manhattan who then went on to the National finals for the 2023 Mount Gay Taste of Home cocktail competition, Patty Dennison knows all about making a solid drink. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. Dennison can now be found at Grand Army in Brooklyn where she is the Head Bartender. We spoke to Dennison about crafting cocktails, bartending, and what to expect when you check out Grand Army.

When did you first become interested in the cocktail culture?

I first became interested in cocktail culture and bartending when I was going to school at Cornell University. We have a conference called HEC where the students effectively run the conference over the weekend. I was a bartender for this and fell in love. After finishing culinary school, I thought I was done with operations, but bartending was the happy medium between back and front of house. I was still able to create things while also having the guest interaction I craved.

What innovations in mixology and bartending do you find fascinating? 

I love carbonation and I love it so much. I want everything to be as carbonated as possible all the time. I think the hill I have been dying on at Grand Army recently is how I can make the best soda. Making a liquid that is ideal to retain and not annoying to carbonate has been very fun and challenging. There are so many different factors that go into something holding carbonation whether it be temperature or clarity and that's something that I will always find interesting and want to learn more about.

How do restaurant and bar guests encourage your creativity?

I think the way that restaurant and bar guests push my creativity the most is by introducing them to something new that they maybe didn’t initially think they would enjoy as this can be a really fine line. I think one of my most commonly said things at work is “If you don’t like it just let me know and we can try something else,” and 99 times out of 100 they don’t need to try something else. It is both challenging and exciting to find that happy medium for a guest. “I don’t like mezcal it’s too smokey.” Right now at Grand Army, we have a lovely mezcal highball that is an incredible intro to mezcal as it is light, refreshing, and not overwhelmingly smoky. Sometimes you really have to get creative pulling out deep classics to make this happen, but it’s one of the most fun and rewarding parts about bartending for me!

What are your preferred “classic cocktails” and why?

I am gonna have to pick three because I can’t help myself. Number one has got to be a classic daiquiri. There is genuinely nothing better than a crisp well-made daiquiri. The first bar I worked at was called Blacktail, and working there really made me fall in love with rum and realize how many people had a negative connotation with the classic. When done well, there truly is nothing better. Also, and these two are maybe in the same realm, are a 50/50 martini and a white negroni. When I am out these are probably my most ordered cocktails (besides a beer and shot). These are two timeless classics that are a lovely way to start a meal, and both really nice with a grapefruit twist.

What are some of your favorite infusions and how do you use them in drinks?

Fig leaf has been something that I have really enjoyed using. This leaf tastes like herbal coconut in a way that you would never expect, and it was a really fun way to introduce a new ingredient to a lot of guests in the bar. I think we can consider a fat wash an infusion, and this is something I really enjoy to add a little texture and flavor. Whether it be coconut oil, brown butter, or bacon fat it's interesting to see how much flavor and texture is imparted by different fats and how they play in different applications.

Tell us about a few of your signature cocktails and why they are distinctive.

In general little to no garnish is going to be distinction #1 for the cocktail that I am making. In general, though, I think focusing on a few flavors and not creating something too busy is going to be another descriptor. I also enjoy switching around styles of cocktails. So take the flavors of a Sazerac and make a light and refreshing shaken sour or take the flavors of a pina colada and make a tropical spirit-forward cocktail. I think my favorite cocktail I have ever made was my first drink on the Hawksmoor Menu, the Yacht Rock. It was essentially a Pina Colada Old fashioned. Use coconut oil-washed Irish whisky, miso, verjus, and a sauvignon block syrup for a tropical kick. Using the core flavors to make a light and refreshing spirit-forward cocktail was really fun and cool.

And my favorite guilty pleasure drink was my S’mores milk punch from the Grand Army menu. I am a 28-year-old “adult” and my favorite food is S’mores. It was cool and really tasted like s'mores in a wild way, this bourbon cocktail was also a good introduction to whiskey for a lot of people. Yes, there was a little bit of heavily peated scotch in the drink to mimic the campfire and yes this was my mom's idea.

Give us your perfect pairing for a cocktail and a culinary selection.

You cannot go wrong with oysters and a martini, especially at Grand Army.

Tell us a little about Grand Army Bar. What is one (or more!) thing you’d like our audience to know?

Grand Army is a neighborhood cocktail and oyster bar that has been open for 9 years now. We take what we do seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. I can have an extensive conversation with a guest about our agar-clarified soda that we carbonate in-house, but I also may stand at the bar and give the guests laybacks. My goal every day I am behind the bar is to try and make someone's day a little bit better and I think we do an incredible job of doing that with a fun, approachable environment filled with homies. (This is the most Patty thing I have ever said, but it makes the most sense to me.)

(Photos courtesy of Jeff Brown)

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