If you’ve been reading our social media pages, then you know that we love to share the inside stories from our restaurant with you.

The entire staff is essential to making sure you have the best dining experience with us – our Executive Chef Matt Smith who is making sure that every dish that leaves the kitchen will wow your tastebuds, our Pastry Chef Evey Post who bakes the perfect peanut butter pie to finish your meal, our Front Of The House Manager and Wine Director Matt Iafeliece who helps pair the perfect wine with your night, and our superstar bartender Sydney Nelson, who crafts a creative cocktail to sip on while you chat with your dining dates!

The next time you’re inspired to drink one of our cocktails mixed with local spirits, make sure to let Sydney know what you’re craving and she’ll whip up something spectacular for you!

 

How do you develop the cocktail menu? How often do you change it?

We try to shake up the drink menu every few months with the changing of the seasons. Most recently we’ve gathered together to create fun concoctions and sample each other’s work and vote on what everyone likes the best. By getting creative in a team environment we truly come up with some wonderful stuff that maybe one person wouldn’t have thought of on their own. It’s like a cross between a business meeting and a party!

What is your favorite cocktail on the menu?

My current favorite cocktail would have to be the Ginger Remolacha. I had been wanting to play with a really smoky mezcal for a while. We brought it in right when beets are in season and the smoke pairs with the sweet earthy beets perfectly. A splash of homemade ginger simple syrup and a squeeze of citrus make it refreshing and divine!

 

What is one thing you’d like customers to know about the drinks at Next Door?

If you don’t see something that excites you, or if you have an idea you would like to try, come chat with your bartender! Half the fun of working the bar is trying new combinations with fresh local produce. Currently, we are enjoying homemade Palisade peach syrup and local cantaloupe and vanilla bean puree. I’ve even garnished a cocktail with orange blossom water candied pistachios. But these flavors will change with the seasons, of course. Farm fresh isn’t confined to the kitchen!