Bon Vivants

Josh Harris (with cap) Founding Partner

A born-and-raised San Francisco native who attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and graduated with honors from University of San Francisco in 2005, Josh Harris passed on his family’s traditional leanings toward law school and a career as a lawyer to pursue his innate talent and passion for bars and restaurants. He’s never looked back. Now a national award-winning and critically-acclaimed bartender, Josh honed his craft at a variety of the City’s restaurants and bars. Josh’s experience runs the gamut, from neighborhood bars and fine dining restaurants to fast- paced clubs and cocktail bars with extensive management experience throughout.

Prior to co-founding The Bon Vivants with Scott Baird in 2009 and joining the bar team at San Francisco’s renowned 15 Romolo, Josh was the brand ambassador and corporate mixologist for Altamar Brands, where he represented Right Gin, Tequila Ocho and Kübler Absinthe in multiple markets throughout California. His role included educating industry peers and consumers, creating original cocktails featuring the spirits, and executing events of all types in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Las Vegas, Louisville and New Orleans. Outside of that long- term position, Josh has done a large amount of brand work for liquor companies including Skyy Spirits and Combier.

Through his work with the The Bon Vivants, Josh has garnered acclaim for his bar programs at the Michelin-starred, fine dining restaurant Quince in San Francisco, and the new UK styled gastropub AGAINN in our nation’s capital. He and Bon Vivants partner Scott Baird are planning to open their own bar, Trick Dog, in San Francisco in early 2011.

Josh is a member of the United States Bartenders Guild and a seasoned contest circuit participant. Recently named a San Francisco Chronicle 2010 Bar Star, he’s taken first place in eight competitions in the past year with his original cocktail creations, including the Suntory National Competition, Cointraeu’s Master of the Margarita, and the 42Below Vodka World Cup in San Francisco. He and Scott Baird won the national 2010 Cabana Cachaca Bartender Olympics at
Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans as members of the West Coast team. He and his cocktails have appeared in Details, C Magazine, Nightclub and Bar, Tasting Panel, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle, Gary Regan’s Bartenders Gin Compendium, Imbibe, Daily Candy, Eater National, Tablehopper, Alcademics, 7×7, CUESA publications, Urban Daddy, Bisnow, Yum Sugar, The Cellarist, Thrillist, SFoodie, Juli B, Scene Advisor and more.
Additionally, Josh has been interviewed on “Dining Around with Gene Burns” on KGO Radio in San Francisco and “The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis” in Los Angeles.

Scott Baird (with beard) Founding Partner

Scott Baird is known and respected throughout the Bay Area and nationally for his creativity, talent and deep knowledge of spirits, cocktails and bartending. He uses products from small production companies and creates many cocktail components from scratch, utilizing his talent in the kitchen as well as behind the bar. This dedication to quality ingredients and execution has earned him recognition in various food- and drink-related media, including San Francisco Magazine, Imbibe, Nightclub and Bar, Tasting Panel, San Francisco Bay Guardian, DC Modern Luxury, C magazine, KGO Radio, and as a 2010 Bar Star by San Francisco Chronicle. 15 Romolo, a North Beach bar and restaurant he co-owns in San Francisco, was named in March 2010 as one of the city’s 38 “most essential” restaurants by popular industry blog EaterSF. The “Lady Macbeth,” a cocktail Scott co-created for The Bon Vivants’ client AGAINN in Washington, D.C., was recently selected by Details magazine as one of the top in the U.S.

Scott’s creations have been showcased in many cocktail competitions, including Skyy Spirits’ San Francisco-wide “Mixology Madness” competition in 2009 that crowned him The City’s Best Bartender, with a feature story in 7×7 magazine. He also took first place finishes in the Nirvino Navan competition in 2009 and the 2008 Macallan Amber competition. He and The Bon Vivants’ partner Josh Harris won the national 2010 Cabana Cachaca Bartender Olympics at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans as members of the West Coast team.

Scott’s knowledge of hand-crafted cocktails began to take shape in 2002 when he worked at César restaurant and bar in Berkeley, which had one of the best-stocked bars in the Bay Area. In 2005, he moved across the Bay to San Francisco and accepted a position behind the culinary-minded bar at COCO5OO. Executive Chef Loretta Keller encouraged Scott to make his own liqueurs from scratch and to buy organic ingredients for his mixers. In addition to working at COCO, Scott created cocktails for off-site parties and envisioned opening his own artisanal cocktail bar. It was through catering that Scott tapped into his lifelong passion for cooking, creating menus specializing in seasonal Mexican and Cal-Med cuisine.

While operating the bar at COCO, Scott also worked part time at The Fatted Calf. The daily proximity to farm-fresh produce proved very influential. Scott carries the appreciation for seasonality that he gained from COCO5OO and The Fatted Calf into the cocktails and cuisine he makes at 15 Romolo, and the cocktail consulting duo The Bon Vivants, which he co-founded with Josh Harris in 2009. Trick Dog, The Bon Vivants’ bar, is scheduled to open in San Francisco in early 2011.