Salt Lake City bar to go up against the nation’s best at James Beard Awards

Following on from the January news that saw nine Utah names make the prestigious James Beard Awards semi-finalist list – today sees the organization announce the best of the best – those who might be crowned as America’s finest.

They say you can’t get a drink in Utah. They are wrong. You can in fact get a very good drink in Utah – especially should you find yourself perched on a stool at Water Witch; which now finds itself in the loftiest of positions – set to go head-to-head with four other names to win this year’s Outstanding Bar JBF award. You read that right, a bar in Utah.

Water Witch (163 W 900 S) debuted in the Winter of 2016 in the now bustling Central 9th . At the time Water Witch and Jen Gilroy’s much-missed Meditrina were the only two flags planted in what might favorably be termed a nascent neighborhood. Now? It’s one of the hottest food and drink destinations in Salt Lake County.

The founding troika of Sean Neves, Scott Gardner, and Matt Pfohl, the elder statesmen if you will, have long since stepped away from day to day ops. “They don’t let me anywhere near the stick these days”, jokes Neves, who for his part puts the award squarely on the shoulders of the current team. “It’s the youngest team we’ve had, and maybe the best, the award is all theirs”.

Specifcally Neves credits a current day trio, namely Adam Kaessner, Kenzi Anderson and, JJ Barth – as the leading lights behind the bar’s current successes. Neves jokes that Kaessner is the mad scientist of the group, “our drinks present and read simply, but there’s a lot of work that goes into the back end”, he explains. “Adam is the motor that keeps us rolling, creating wild orgeats, spent wine syrups, and house vinegars from expired wines. We’re as close to a zero waste organization as we’ve ever been”

The national recognition for the Witcher’s efforts is just one more award to add to their Smaug-like pile – indeed the bar previously made the semi-finalist list back in 2022. Water Witch has arguably been the biggest driver of mixological (it’s a word, don’t look it up) excellence in the city for some time now; constantly pushing against the narrative that the Beehive is a dry wasteland. Some of the best mixology names in the state have spent time behind the bar here, and the impact tendrils of the nigh decade of brilliance spread through numerous other local businesses and bar programs.

In recent years the bar opened a portal into the adjoining space connecting with David Chon’s then Nohm, creating the all-new Bar Nohm. If you didn’t read this piece in 2023, do so now. v

The bar will now go up against the following four names come the grand awards ceremony in Chicago on June 16th:

• Kumiko, Chicago, IL
• Scotch Lodge, Portland, OR
• The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday, Philadelphia, PA
• Wolf Tree, White River Junction, VT

Raise a glass, cross some phalanges, and all that.

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Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.

I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.   Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.    I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.

Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.