Attention, foodies: There’s a new culinary dynamic duo along the SoDIV corridor of Heartside. The same day Chef Trimell Hawkins opened Trust, his upscale “New American Soul” restaurant at 117 Division Ave. S, Tellers Lounge started serving craft cocktails, beer and wine next door at 115 SoDIV.
Like their neighbor, Tellers co-owner operators Drew Rosema and Noah Gonyon add new tones to visitors’ flavor palettes with innovative ingredients and international discoveries.
“We’re constantly doing tastings and trying new things,” Gonyon said. “Today we tried some really Old World beers from what might be the oldest brewery in the world.
“That’s the reason we do this — to provide a broad array of experiences from different traditions.”
“Beautiful traditions!” Rosema added. “It’s important to know the roots of everything. We try to draw from a broad range of flavors: Southeast Asian, European, Caribbean and African influences are places where we find ourselves most.”
Gonyon credits Rosema for starting his own journey to craft bartending. “Drew had a huge culinary background growing up, and that definitely helped me. But we all kind of develop our own palate.
“A lot of it was learning and studying classic cocktails and then learning how to riff from there — taking inspiration from culinary dishes, other drinks, even random things from the store. Like a mango-mangosteen aloe drink where you think, ‘That would be fun to pair with something.’ “
Rosema and Gonyon honed their skills working together at Big O Pizza and Booze, then as bartenders and managers at Sidebar. “Sidebar definitely wasn’t a typical bar experience,” Rosema said. “We had a very skeleton crew and a very small room. We didn’t need many more people. It’s kind of a similar concept here — small room, skeleton crew — but we all chip in and make it work.”
One key ingredient is Tellers’ relationship with Trust: The restaurant prepares small plates for bar customers, and Tellers provides Trust’s drinks list. “We’re separate entities, but we have a beautiful
collaborative relationship,” Rosema said. “And we don’t have to run a kitchen,” Gonyon continued “A lot of places are either really good at food, or really good at cocktails, or OK at both. It’s nice for us to focus entirely on craft cocktails, tastings, wine selection, beer selection.”
Rosema said they picked their SoDIV location with intention: “We’re trying to be a classic cocktail bar with a craft focus, bringing that into a part of the city we think should be a major part of downtown.
“We price our cocktail menu competitively and try to have something for everybody — expensive cocktails, affordable beers, communal space. We want to be a good neighborhood bar for a community that has been missing one for a while. Come as you are: We’ll accept you!”
Tellers Lounge is open from 4 p.m. to midnight every day except Monday. Happy hour is 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Tellers team up to serve Sunday brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Sunday brunch with Trust.
