Winning Speed & Style with Yael Stormborn (S3 E5)

*Please note, transcripts are AI populated so please forgive any typos.

Announcer:
Jonathan Pogash is the cocktail guru, a mixologist and hospitality expert. Ah, see? You know big words. Dude, I'm the cocktail guru. Cheers. Jeffrey's his dad, a wine and spirits author, historian, and consultant.

Jeffrey:
Well, I do my homework.

Announcer:
With decades of experience, they're always looking for the next big thing. Join this father and son duo for a few laughs as they explore the hottest trends in hospitality with the service industry's leading trailblazers and tastemakers. Welcome to the Cocktail Guru Podcast.

Jeffrey:
You know, John. Yes. We're still on Hollywood and Vine. Yes, we are. How long have we been here? For hours on end, haven't we? Yeah. I think we should get an apartment. Right here. Yes, on Hollywood and Vine. That way we're paying for it.

Jonathan:
I'll I'll pay part of it anyway. We can keep coming back. Who's going to pay for the rest of it?

Jeffrey:
Well, I don't know. Maybe you'll pay for part of it. It's not our production company might be able to pay for part of it.

Jonathan:
Yeah. Yes. Nice. They'll pay for it.

Jeffrey:
Yes. But we've been spending so much time here and we love it here and we want to come back. We do.

Jonathan:
So I think we need an apartment. I will come back next week to do something that I can't talk about. But we have an amazing roster of guests that have been coming to Lost Property Bar here to be interviewed by us. Yes. And we're so thankful. And it's really amazing. And what we love to do is we love to share the experiences of all of these guests because they're all very unique and very talented in their own way. And we have a guest that I've known for many years, and I see her a lot in the industry. And she's a powerhouse started in New York and LA now has been for many, many years. And we're so excited to bring her on. Welcome Yael Van Graaff to the podcast.

Yael:
Welcome, you know you can have my old apartment.

Jeffrey:
It's like oh, thank you.

Jonathan:
It's nearby great Yeah, just moved. There's definitely an empty bedroom in there still terrible We lived yeah when I lived in New York we moved like six times in five years.

Yael:
Oh, yeah, but that's just what you do Yeah, no a thousand percent. I didn't realize that that wasn't what you do until I moved here It's not what you do here.

Jonathan:
No People just stay. They stay. Oh, but you had like kind of the New York attitude and you were like, well, no, no, I stayed.

Yael:
I stayed. Well, that's not true. I got here. I hated it here. I moved to San Francisco about eight months later, but then I moved back and then I stayed and then it's been, it's been like a five year cycle staying in one place for five years and then moving.

Jonathan:
And did you, um, and you grew up in Texas? I'm from Texas. Yeah. All right. And what was what was your experience there? Did you start in working in bars and restaurants?

Yael:
No, no, not. No, I did not. I moved to New York when I was 17 to go to school and then needed to pay my rent. And I didn't really I was a dancer at the time. So I didn't I was pursuing like a creative goal while still being in school, and yeah, I needed to make money right away. I didn't really know how to do anything else, so I started as a cocktail waitress and found hospitality that way.

Jonathan:
You went to school for dance?

Yael:
I did not, actually. I specifically didn't want to go to school for dance, but I chose moving to New York and going to NYU because I was going to be surrounded by the arts at all times. But I didn't want to study dance academically. So no, I studied like philosophy and French dramatic literature. And and you just piqued his interest. And then like halfway through, I learned how to DJ and decided to transition into this interdisciplinary school. I mean, my poor parents, like I have never really, truly known what the heck I want to do.

Jeffrey:
Well, I did the same thing to my parents. And you see, I always have something in common with our guests, even more than you do. And in this case, I was a philosophy, anthropology, double major, and a music minor. So it drove my parents crazy.

Jonathan:
What were we thinking? You also studied in France.

Jeffrey:
And I studied in France and learned French.

Yael:
Amazing. Amazing. So yeah, I do. I mean, of course, like my experience in school informed many aspects of my personality and who I am today. And obviously wouldn't have gotten my start in hospitality in the like magical way that I did if I didn't go to school there. But, you know, can't can't really say I use my major per se, you know, or anything like that.

Jonathan:
And what what was, you know, when you moved to New York, was there a spot that you started working in where you were like, all right, things are being taken seriously. And I think, you know, there's something here for me.

Yael:
I mean, I I I'm older so no, no, you're not as old as we are. I got my start like like way earlier than. Things were exploding or they were about to explode, so I mean no, like it was just this very, very romantic. Notion that I got from service and hospitality from like the neighborhood sports bar I was working at. It was on A and 13th. It's called Common Ground. It's still there. It was kind of like more upscale neighborhood sports bar. I worked Wednesday night, trivia night, and a Friday night happy hour, and lived down the street in NYU housing. That was that. It was almost all females behind the bar. And I immediately was like, I want to you know, I want to do that. But they were making like key lime pie martinis and, you know, orange creamsicle martini. Yeah. And my my drink that I like I was like. I was not of age at the time, but the drink that I recommended to folks was, I'd be like, oh my gosh, you have to try the Yale Special Stoli Vanilla Diet Coke. And that was me. I thought I was brilliant. I was like, wow, I'm so good at mixing drinks. Anyways, that was the old days. And I was there for about a year and a half and then was just smitten and wanted to see what else Yeah. Was out there and did the fine dining thing and did the, you know, bottle service gal in the club thing and dive bar. I mean, every type of bar, um, wine bar, you name it.

Jonathan:
I, I decided that I like wanted to explore, you know, I, I forgot you talking about the cocktails just now reminded me that we always, at the beginning, normally we ask our guests, uh, this one question, what is your, uh, desert Island cocktail? So like you're stranded.

Yael:
I have like a new desert island cocktail actually and it's absinthe and sparkling coconut water and it's absolutely delicious. I just came out with a sparkling coconut water that I meant to bring for you guys today and then I sold it all this weekend so I don't have any but Yeah, I've always been like an absinthe and coconut water gal. But now that we have a sparkling one, I. Whoa.

Jeffrey:
Absinthe and sparkling water. And what is it called? I don't know.

Yael:
No, your coconut water. Oh, it's called strange water. Strange water. Yeah, we have a still one and a sparkling one. It's in a can. We like literally just launched this thing. I'm super excited about it. Congratulations. But I've been saying that my desert. Thank you. I've been saying my desert island drink is absinthe and coconut water for many years now. But now I'm like, oh no, you know what? It's actually absent in sparkling coconut water. That sounds interesting. I want to get fucked up on desert. Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah, of course you want to get fucked up. And I want something refreshing. Yeah, and I don't really want to drink anything with citrus. OK, OK, so it's kind of, you know, like I guess like absent frappe adjacent.

Jonathan:
And OK, so now so now going back to the New York scene, was there a craft cocktail bar that you were working at in New York or did you start that when you came to LA?

Yael:
Yeah, no, I mean, I I was actually by now I was of age and I was I started dating a bartender who was very, very like already prolific within like mixology. And he taught me so much about like craft cocktails and classic cocktails. And so I was just like voraciously reading everything and like, you know, I think I knew, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew that nightlife was interesting to me, like from when I was 15 years old, probably because I was a dancer. So like the idea of entertainment and nightlife was always like top of mind for me. And I was always reading about like new clubs and dance parties and all of these things. from like a very young age. So the drink piece of like nightlife and entertainment was never really top of mind for me. It was not about the drinks. It was about the space and the people and the vibe and the lights and the music and the entertainment. But now, of course, being able to drink nicely in those settings is always cool. And so Yeah, I like came up right at the time as all of these like speakeasy bars started coming up. I was about to by now I was like interning in music studios because I like thought I was going to be a DJ now. That was my new thing and was kind of about to give up. I worked like, you know, I was trying all the clubs and the fine dining and I didn't really wasn't really resonating with anything. And what's it called? Basically, yeah, I was about to give up. And then I saw an ad on Craigslist for a program that was being started by Eben Freeman. And I recognized that name because I was dating this bartender who had spoken very highly of Eben. And I was like, OK, I'm going to go on this job interview. And it was for a restaurant called Taylor, which is no longer there anymore. And Sam Mason was the chef. And Eben was running the cocktail program. And it was this absolute rock star cast. of bartenders, and it was very much like right place, right time. And I was a cocktail waitress. I was I think I was just like newly 21. And it was like Alex Day and Adam Jaljitache and Tim Cooper and Troy Arkin. And this is like like literal rock star lineup of people behind this bar. And I just like. Devoured every piece of knowledge and information that I could get from these guys, and I would like copy down all their notebooks and then go home and copy it down in my own notebooks. Actually, because I just moved recently, I found all my old notebooks. Really? It's all my old philosophy notebooks and texts, and then in the margins is me writing cocktail recipes down. Clearly not paying attention to what's happening in the class, but definitely getting my cocktail recipes down. And all I wanted was to be a bartender. That was like all I wanted. And then eventually Eben let me start bartending. This place was just down the street from Pegu Club. Audrey came in one day, saw me, and invited me to come work at Pegu. And then from there, went on to run Painkiller and was at Maison Premier before I left to come to LA. So that was kind of how I found myself in craft.

Jonathan:
Yeah. And then moving out to L.A., you started working with the Harvard and Stone folks.

Yael:
I did. I did. I mean, I originally moved out here to consult on some programs. I was working with proprietors, LLC, kind of learned bar consulting via that because I was working on some programs with them and then eventually made my way to running Harvard and Stone. and was there for a really long time. And it was a very special, once again, special time, special place. It's like. And that was, what a special place. Yeah. We were just there on Monday night. It felt like kissing an ex-girlfriend or something like that. I have not stepped inside of that place since the pandemic. That's really funny. And it was like, will I ever step back in there?

Jonathan:
We should go there.

Yael:
Yeah, you guys should absolutely go there.

Jonathan:
Put that on the list, please. We need to go. I don't think you've been, Dad.

Yael:
It's so special. I have not been there. It's so special. And honestly, it really hasn't changed.

Jonathan:
So the gala, what was the deal with the gala? What happened?

Yael:
It was beautiful. I mean, it was very funny to be like black tie in Harvard and Stone, you know, like there were a lot of jokes. It was like, wait, we do cocaine here. Like, you know, like, like, why are we, you know, but everybody looks super nice. And it was just, it was, it was so beautiful. But yeah, it was just cocktail destruction. You know, I mean, everybody was looking to support that. Like a shit show. But not really. I mean, for us behind them, honestly, it was very well managed for how many people were there and how much they were drinking. The Harbin Stone team did an absolutely incredible job. I mean, so did we. No, I mean, we were raising money for the Emergency Bartenders Relief Fund. Um, and so the drinks were like really well priced, um, because all the tips were going towards the fund. So yeah, I think we did. I think we raised a lot of money. I don't, I don't know what the number is, but pretty sure.

Jonathan:
So yeah, you were telling us that you started a coconut water company.

Yael:
I wouldn't say I started the company. You're involved in the Coconut Water Company. I don't even know how to describe them. I guess they would be called a client that I have. It's an amazing company who kind of made a lot of my dreams come true for sure, called Stranger Then. They found me a few years ago. The owner of this company, his name is Tal, and he was like, I need you to run these three music festivals for me. And at the time I was fully employed. full-time corporate job as like a corporate beverage director lead, or like a creative beverage director lead. And I was like, I absolutely cannot do that for you, sir. And he like didn't really let me say no. And I didn't really wanna say no because that was, I'd spent quite a bit of time working with, do you guys know the guys from Road Soda, like Ben Skora and YC? Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. You know Ben Skora and his- That's like my favorite- Trailer. team to work with. I love chaos. I love being outdoors. I love the heat. I love everything that has to do with the music festival. And so like one of my kind of earlier goals was like, gosh, how do I like be on the I don't like to stay in one place. So I was like, oh, how do I be on the road like. At like running music festivals for a living and, you know, as a beverage director, you know, working for Mark and Medford, I was with them for like six years. There was this dream, you know, I felt like I was pursuing my dream of working with them, and by all means I was, but there was this other dream that was like, gosh, what if I did this thing instead? Um, so yeah, that, uh, I, he didn't let me say no and I decided to do it. So I've been running productions for them. Um, like mind warrior and circle loco, and we just did the first us boiler room, um, for a few years now. And he's kind of always having ideas and he was like, I really want to make a coconut water. And I was like, well, I have a guy. Um, and yeah, we decided to make a natural one and a sparkling one. I really love sparkling water. Um, and felt like there was a little bit of a gap there and eventually would like to make some flavors I have in mind. Um, but I find flavor science really fascinating, really interesting, especially like on a large scale. And the idea of product development, um, is very interesting to me. So yeah, I just had the right connections. Tal had the idea and then, you know, we crafted something that we decided was the most delicious thing out there. Um, it was definitely, um, intended to be used as a one-in-one mixer for the massive festivals. We do a lot of volume in New York as well. The mother company to Stranger Than is based in New York. It's called Tech Support. So we were looking, there's a little bit of citric acid in the sparkling coconut water so that you can make vodka sparkling coconut water, not need to add any fresh lime to it because This is a music festival, not mixology world. We have a plastic cup. I know. So that's kind of the intention of it. And then, you know, hopefully, you know, in room beverage for hotels and pool service and health food stores, the health food store just down the street called Body Energy Club. There's close friends of mine that are big supporters. So, yeah.

Jonathan:
Yeah. And then so what's what's really interesting is that So Carrie and the production team, we've all been they went to Tales of the Cocktail with us. OK, this past July and the one before you make it out, OK? Yeah, they mean it. Yeah, they were fine. Unscathed. Yeah, but it's funny because the last two years, I don't know if you've been doing it longer, but you're incorporating your dance into the festivals themselves. Yeah. So, for instance, I don't know if the crew remembers at the was it at the Monkey Shoulder? Yeah. Yeah. twirling around. Yes. Oh yes, I remember very well.

Yael:
Yeah. I did a performance with actually my aerial coach, Noel. I'm super injured right now. I'm on the mend. That's a lie. I'm I'm on the mend. Just had like a very horrific personal loss that has kind of inhibited me from dancing in the moment. So I miss Ariel very much. I have not trained in about three or four months, which is the longest I've ever gone, which is terrifying. But yes, it's a treat and a pleasure to incorporate. any level of artistry into this, you know, space that feels like it's just fucking booze and drinks. Right. I just think that there's so much more to it. And I'm very appreciative for the space from our colleagues to say, hey, we see this thing that you're doing and we want to incorporate it. So hopefully some cool stuff to come for 2024. If it's not me, it would be me hiring other people to perform. Because I think one thing that I have learned over the past few years is like it is really difficult to produce and perform. I had six six back-to-back double bookings this past weekend and one of them I was entertaining the idea of entertaining and I had to pull I had to I had to draw a line was just like can't And I also tend to put a lot of stress and pressure on my team when I make decisions like that, which is never good. You can be as organized as you want. I got spreadsheets for days and load lists for days, and I can have the A-est list of team on there, but you're compromising in some ways. capacity so right and but yes, I think that the struggle mentally is what's most you know you you can be dancer brain and you can be producer brain and you it's really hard to be both and I and I want a lot of like my inspiration, you know. as it pertains to that, comes from one of my directors. Her name is Olivia, and we produce a collective called The House of Red Velvet. And she performs twice, and the rest of us just have one set. And she directs and produces the whole thing. And I just gotta say, I have so much respect for her, but that is a special type of, in her case, she's a Libra. That is a special type of Libra right there, yeah.

Jonathan:
And what do you do? You know, since it's it takes such a toll mentally, what do you do to kind of decompress?

Yael:
If anything, I try is actually. I was asked this question last night by somebody very close to me and he asked. I was like, I'm feeling really low. And he was like, how do you recharge? And I said, well, you know, usually I recharge through connection. And he just started laughing and he was like, we are the exact opposite. I get recharged through like meaningful connections with people, whether they are intimate ones or whether they are like inspiring ones or inspiring conversations. And then I also recharge like through physical pain or work, you know, like exercise or, you know, something like this.

Jonathan:
Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

Yael:
What do I, I don't even know what I'm like, Oh, Netflix or, you know, food, you know, meditation. I've never meditated. I will never be that girl. I'm not even going to try it. I cannot sit still. I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it.

Jonathan:
What do you dad, what do you do to decompress? What do I do? Take a drink. No, I said tiki drink. No, tiki. You watch golf.

Jeffrey:
No, that's nice. Well, I collect menus. He collects menus. He's got a collection. I've been doing this for many years, and I collect old cocktail books. So I go back to my collections and look them over and read more books and explore. Yeah. So that's what I do to decompress.

Jonathan:
What, Kerry? What do you do? Yeah, I was just thinking that. What do I do? I cuddle with the kids. Yeah, you know, like they help to recharge me for sure. Especially when I come home from a trip and they're just like daddy. Just like little munchkins and the dog like yeah therapy.

Yael:
No, I know, my old roommates had the most incredible husky, and the new place where I live is like, it's beautiful. It's like a whole artist loft compound community, and it is like very strictly no pets. Not that I would go out and get a dog, because I literally have no time, but that husky, oh man, especially as I was going through this most recent really terrible loss was just, such like pet therapy man like I really that's a thing that's a thing it really is you know yeah so being something about this dog specifically too was she was just such a riot and like so cuddly and like it really felt like there was a like very strange human inside and uh Yeah, I miss the dog so much. I'm actually going to go over there and get some packages. So maybe I'll get to see the puppy.

Jonathan:
Yeah, exactly. Yes. Pet therapy is stiff. I mean, we just got a dog about a year and a half ago, and she is literally her name is Luna. She's literally the kindest, sweetest, gentlest creature I've ever met. Yeah. She never barks. She's always so cuddly. She loves to play. She sleeps. I mean, she's just like the best. And then doing this podcast also. Right. Kind of true, though, you know, I agree. The event last night, I was carrying all these fucking boxes of booze and I feel it today just from carrying three big boxes of liquor. Like I feel my neck and my shoulder and I'm like, but I don't feel that when I do this.

Yael:
No, but I mean, I mean, this is a form of talk therapy. No, it's like when you asked me, do you want to come to a podcast like when? Who am I going to when am I going to say no to a podcast? Like, it's really nice to just Sit and sit and talk. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, reflect and discover and explore and all these things. So. Yeah, I think also just from the historical standpoint of tracing our roots in our history and our paths, how the heck do we get here? Yeah.

Jonathan:
Origin stories. I love that. Well. We're glad to be your talk therapy for the day. Thank you. Because it is, yeah, it's great. Thanks. It is. Dad also has a very calming vibe to him. Yeah, you really do.

Jeffrey:
Maybe outside, on my exterior, I do. Inside is a little different. Blowing up.

Jonathan:
Seething. Seething. Not now. No, no. I can very easily. Okay. Well, thanks. Thank you so much.

Yael:
Appreciate it. Nice to spend some time with you guys.

Jeffrey:
Cheers. Keep dancing.

Yael:
Thank you.

Jonathan:
Hey, Jonathan here again with another Tipple Time. We are once again here at the famous Tonga Hut in North Hollywood, California. I'm so excited because this is a real bar, and very rarely do I get to make drinks at a real life bar. So I'm going to make this stirred cocktail, which is kind of a variation on a Rob Roy, which is one of my favorite scotch whiskey cocktails. And we're using one of my absolute favorite scotch whiskeys, Glenmorangie, and we're going to use the 10-year-old. They have a wide variety of expressions. And this one is really delicious, really beautiful and gorgeous in cocktails. Cocktails that are shaken, cocktails that are stirred, refreshing, light, with ice, without ice, whatever you choose. I have my mixing glass over here. This is a really nice crystal mixing glass. It's called a Yarai. It's Japanese. And I actually got it on Cocktail Kingdom. And they are friends of the podcast as well. So we'll give them a little bit of a shout out. Of course, my jigger, I measure all of my ingredients to make sure everything is consistent and up to par. So, let's go ahead and add two ounces of my Glenmorangie 10-year-old single malt scotch whiskey. And this is our Lustau dry vermouth. It is a Spanish vermouth, a very traditional dry vermouth. We'll get one ounce of our dry vermouth. And to make our Rob Roy complete here, I'm adding just a little bit of this Monin macadamia nut liqueur. It's really nice and nutty, kind of like a Orgeat in traditional cocktails, classic cocktails, but macadamia nut. And Monin makes these amazing syrups that are really all natural, and you can smell that. It smells really, really nice. Delicious, I'm sure, in coffee drinks. non-alcoholic and alcoholic, but also really delicious in a drink like this. Who would have thought to make, to have a stirred cocktail with Monin macadamia nut? Me, folks. I've thought about it and I'm making it for you so that you can make it at home. And that's about it. So we're going to add a little bit of ice, some Angostura bitters, which will add three dashes. There we go. Lovely. And now we will give this a stir. And when I stir my cocktails, I stir for twice the amount of time as when I shake. So I usually shake, in my brain, I keep track about eight Mississippis. When I stir, I double it. So it's about 16 Mississippis. And that should be good. And of course we have our trusty Hawthorne strainer. I love this glass from Tonga Hut. So beautiful. We'll add ice and we'll strain from our mixing glass directly into our iced Tonga Hut old fashioned glass. And nice large swath of orange peel. Just express over the top, rub it around the rim, drop it in. That is the Roy is nuts, my variation on a Rob Roy cocktail. Oh, you get that delicious zest from the citrus right off the top on the nose. Mm, I can't wait to taste it. Hold on. I did a little bit of that sound so that you can hear it at home, right? Oh, it's so good. Like the Glenmorangie single malt perfectly balances with the nutty notes, the bitters also kind of round everything out, and the citrus peel. Another episode, Tipple Time. Thanks again for watching, listening to the Cocktail Guru podcast. I'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_04:
Tipple Time is brought to you in part by Loose Dow, Glenmorangie, and Monin Gourmet Syrups.

Jonathan:
That does it for today's show.

SPEAKER_04:
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Jonathan:
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Announcer:
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