For the Turtles
By Brooke Donegan, Spirited
The name of this delightful all-afternoon sipper is a nod to Spirited’s focus on sustainability. Absolut is a corporate leader in promoting clean oceans and other ...
Danni Smith・Brooke Donegan・Rae Kujawski
Women energize the South Bend bar scene
The spirits industry is often characterized as a male domain, particularly when it comes to management. But the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that as of 2019, 53% of bartenders are women. Three local lady bartenders forged their own pathways to leadership. But rather than locking into competition for patrons, they focus on honing their individual crafts to support a community of industry professionals who rise together.
Let’s raise a glass to three women shaking up the bar scene in South Bend, IN.
Danni Smith, bar manager at The Exchange Whiskey Bar
Inside South Bend’s swanky bank-turned-bar, knowledge matters. Smith is in charge of teaching her staff about the bar’s 450 whiskeys shipped in from distilleries around the world.
It’s been 11 years since Smith stepped behind the bar the day after her 21st birthday. She has grown from sipping sugary tipples like vodka cranberry cocktails to tasting drams of Japanese single malts. After a deep dive into bourbons in Louisville, KY, and a season honing her craft in Indianapolis, Smith felt South Bend’s burgeoning bar scene calling her back home.
In addition to curating the whiskey list and drafting cocktail recipes, Smith manages the bar around two key themes: hospitality and education. To her, hospitality means creating cocktails that appeal to a diverse clientele, whiskey-loving or not. And then, of course, there is attentive service to match the atmosphere, which drips with sophistication.
“I love and appreciate an 18-ingredient cocktail, but if it takes five minutes to make, the guest is not going to be thrilled,” she says, explaining that an efficient, quality experience builds trust over time. “One of my favorite things is when someone says, ‘Let’s do a flight, bartender’s choice.’”
Though Smith prefers rye whiskey—“It’s spicier, with more burn to it”—she cautions against asking a bartender for her favorite drink.
“You probably won’t like our favorites,” she says. “We try to ask questions to get you to the right spot.”
The result is a clientele of devoted regulars. “We have a huge amount of regulars come to our bar who are invested in South Bend, looking at this city not as ‘What are we lacking?’ but ‘What can we do?’ I’m proud to be here.”
See a cocktail recipe from Smith: Some Like It Hot
Rae Kujawski, bar manager at Render Kitchen & Bar
For Kujawski, cocktails are art.
She takes time choosing a base flavor, building context and color, then mulling over each cocktail’s name like a final garnish. Her goal is a drink “steeped in healing combinations and history while maintaining the structure my regular guests are acquainted with.” Ultimately, Kujawski hopes to gently nudge patrons outside their comfort zones.
Most cocktails—from her Icelandic ingredient–infused Aurora to the mythic Fruit of Hades—begin with a singular concept: a phrase, a memory, even a book. Kujawski meticulously searches for the flavor that embodies her inspiration, often matches it to the skeleton of a classic cocktail, then builds from there.
“I need a couple things that are a little bit weird to see how many people will try it out. And then I have things that are more comfortable, like a Manhattan or vodka cocktail,” she says. Pointing to a shelf of amaros—Italian bitters—she adds, “I love investing time to make something a little more healing, a little more medicinal, a little more herbal.”
Kujawski’s affinity for bitters, which she calls a “witches’ brew of herbs and spices,” makes sense in light of her background. She also works as a massage therapist and continues training in Eastern medicine. Stirring up tinctures for curious patrons delights her. From oxymel, a 19th-century honey and vinegar tonic, to antioxidant-packed oregano oil, she willingly shares the story and purpose behind new ingredients.
A few patrons have been surprised by her detailed understanding of spirits and ingredients. “Being a woman, sometimes it’s impressive for you to know anything,” she says wryly. “This industry can chew you up. It can be hard. But as long as you’re willing to learn when you do make mistakes, which I still do every day, we can move forward.”
See a cocktail recipe from Kujawski: Fruit of Hades
Brooke Donegan, co-owner and bar manager at Spirited
“For years I had a note in my phone: ‘If I had a bar…’” says Donegan. Topping her list were suggestions focused on sustainability: paper straws, vegetarian eats, reusing fruit husks for flavor infusions.
But as Donegan knew, becoming a bar owner doesn’t just happen. Then again, neither does becoming a prestigious Certified Specialist of Spirits (CSS), which she did in 2016. The years before Spirited opened—during which Donegan traveled to bars in other markets, attended industry conferences and networked with others in the spirits sphere—prepared her to be the local bar leader she is today.
Despite the serious business of bar ownership, Donegan says Spirited has an easy premise: to be comfortable and casual. Welcoming. This means a menu that caters to vegans and omnivores. It also means doling out cheap beers with the same sincere enthusiasm as slinging craft cocktails such as the margarita-adjacent Tastes Purple and tiki Ginger Mistress.
“I’m never going to be that person who says, ‘Oh, that’s all you’re drinking?’ No pretentious bar vibes,” she says. “If you want our most expensive whiskey with Coke... it’s up to you. Drink what you want.”
While she loves educating patrons about spirits, she mainly wants everyone to relax and enjoy.
This understated confidence has served Donegan well when patrons assume that her male bartender must own the establishment or request that a man mix the cocktail she created herself.
“It used to really bother me,” she admits. “I felt the need to prove myself by spouting off facts about the drink. I don’t feel the need to do that anymore because I’ve clearly gotten a few things done.” Looking around at the menus, straws, even the art on the walls, she says, “It’s cool and weird that all of this came out of my brain. And now it exists.”
See a cocktail recipe from Donegan: For the Turtles
The Exchange Whiskey Bar
112 W. Jefferson Blvd.
574.310.8999
exchangewhiskeybar.com
Render Kitchen & Bar
521 E. Jefferson Blvd.
574.239.7777
rendersouthbend.com
Spirited
105 E. Jefferson Blvd. #100
574.406.6946
spiritedsouthbend.com
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