On any given evening, when diners step into the sophisticated Bata, they know the food and drink will take them somewhere they’ve never been — thanks to smoked-kissed tapas and time-honored cocktails.
The same holds true for Barbata, downstairs.
Contrast that to its sister eatery, the buoyant Reilly Craft Pizza, where the atmosphere is casual and, at least some of the food, can be eaten with hands.
Reilly’s also has a downstairs place to drink, but as with the upstairs Reilly’s, the Tough Luck Club is casual and convivial.
The restaurants could not be more different, yet they have two important things in common. They are owned by the same family and they share Karl Goranowski, their beverage designer.
He sees to it that the bar staff is on top of things and the drinks are perfectly prepared.
“The goal is to make sure those drinks come out extraordinarily quick because the best drink you can have is the drink that’s in your hand,” Goranowski said.
In this season of good friends, good family and good food, there is also a place for a good beverage. With that in mind, Goranowski has designed two cocktail programs to fit anyone’s taste.
“The two cocktail programs are very different, but they all share the same ethos in that we make as much as we possibly can in house,” Goranowski said.
“Bata’s cocktail program and Barbata’s cocktail program specifically focuses on classics done with the best possible ingredients and interesting techniques whereas Reilly is more focused on giving a twist to classics, giving modern interpretations to the classic flavors.”
Think martinis, Manhattans or old fashioneds when you hit either BATA or Reilly’s. Here’s the difference.
“At both locations, we have a version of an old fashioned,” Goranowski said. “At Bata, it’s made with small-batch bourbon; local, single-origin honey; and housemade bitters.
“The version at Reilly’s uses a more modern approach and blends scotch-style whiskey or malted whiskey with bourbon and black tea syrup.”
Goranowski comes with more than a decade of experience as bartender and bar manager. He has worked in the San Francisco Bay Area but also around town at other restaurants, including Scott & Co. and the Bar 1912 in Phoenix. He has run the beverage programs at Hub and Playground and the Owl’s Club Tucson.
“My background has been, intentionally, the broadest experience possible, and always giving our guests the best possible service,” he said.
Interestingly, Goranowski is five years sober. It’s his experience and the teams who work for him that allow him to continue to distribute quality drinks.
“I have 13 years of experience making drinks, I have a vivid memory and incredible people who work with me,” he said. Plus, “I’ve written so many cocktail menus that I’ve lost count.”
Because he is not in public service anymore, Goranowski finds job satisfaction in other ways. The growing beverage programs keep him coming back.
“At this point in my career, the real satisfaction comes from building my teams,” he said.
“Having this next generation of bartenders who are interested, excited and want to learn and being able to provide them with all of my experience, hopefully they can have a long and fruitful career just like I did.”
Goranowski no longer has a bar in his home, he said, but if he did and guests were coming, he would tailor the beverages to each person’s particular taste. For the rest of us who are not bartenders there’s this simple brew.
“A really easy drink that I would have made my go-to in a previous life is the classic daiquiri,” he said. “So, 2 ounces of (your) choice of run, 3/4 ounce of fresh lime juice (It has to be fresh squeezed, not the kind that comes out of a plastic lime), and then a half ounce of rich, 2-to-1 simple syrup. The simple syrup is even better if it’s made with Sugar in the Raw.”
Shake it up and it’s pretty close to “the perfect cocktail,” he said.
