Journal: People & Places

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By Caroline Bontia 

Former Bar Director at two-star Michelin Lazy Bear and now, a Service Captain at three-star Michelin SingleThread Farms — Otello Tiano is stirring up the mixology world with his side hustle @Barsace — and invites us to join the FAD: Fashion Art and Design! 

"I want to take everything that I know and make it available to everyone no matter where you live. Because a Michelin star [level] is only in 5 to 6 cities in the United States [Michelin currently reviews four regions in the United States: New York, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and California]. What about these other cities that have that thirst for that type of experience?"

Barsace's FAD layers an all-out immersive mix of vintage-inspired fashion and barware, as experienced through an in-person pop-up and virtual Zoom class. It's one that we've had the pleasure of enjoying at his first pop-up at Troubadour in March, that we've affectionately dubbed as "pie and libations" and also in a corporate virtual setting, where Otello taught us how to scavenge for wild fennel, a versatile shrub, in which he concocted a seriously delicious Fennel Bay cocktail.

Indeed the demand for Barsace's infectiously crafted FAD is catching on. Otello has collaborated with some world-famous established brands and has had over 150 people Zooming in:  "I can be open to anything and whatever people want. First off, it teaches me to never be bored. Second, it makes me uncomfortable, which for me, has been the best work that I've done! It's like, when I'm sitting there two days before I'm supposed to be done ... and I'm losing my mind. I don't know if I'm going to have these done!" 

Off duty, we caught up with Otello over brunch at Lo & Behold. True to his persona, Otello is wildly serious about embodying Barsace, and equally serious being self-effacing, grateful for his Napoli roots, family and friends who have helped him, and is sincerely curious about connecting with others, including collaborating with local businesses as part of the Barsace experience. 

Reflecting back on Troubadour's pop-up, Otello wants to up the fun factor even more and connect with local businesses, "I was talking to Melissa [Yanc, co-owner of Troubadour and Quail & Condor]. Next time I come up we're putting a disco ball in your bathroom and people are going to walk in there and lose their minds... and we just bought a neon hot pink that says, "Barsace" and I'm going to bring up this gold mirror that I have 6ft by 4ft and I'm going to pop-up that neon just above it so that that guests  can wait for their drinks and just take selfie pictures in front. The other thing with pop-ups: Say you like this glass. After you're done finishing that cocktail, you can buy that glass. And making it this immersive experience where it's not just my stuff, but other small businesses around the area around that pop-up can bring their items to it and they can bring it through the Barsace brand. They can sell some of their items and Barsace promotes the locality of the area."

Our Q&A video interview is posted here, where we ask Otello to explain his arm tattoos, how he came up with his Barsace logo, and his mission for Barsace, and a fun day spent in Healsburg and Sonoma County (spoiler alert, Otello candidly admits that he's terrible at answering that and riffs on a full day spent in San Francisco).

Q. Cocktail style? 

"I like making heavy-booze cocktails that don't taste like heavy booze cocktails."

Q. What do you think about canned cocktail drinks? 

"First off, I wish I came up with the idea! Because it clearly took off! There's been a few brands that I really like, the CutWater is a pretty great cocktail. It stays pretty well too. I've only tried their margarita and it's kinda the like the same thing that I'm trying to do with Barsace, where it's more of an online-based co-brand for people to get the experience anywhere across the country. We finally offer something in a can cocktail wise, so people don't have to go out to a bar. You can take it home, enjoy it and kinda have that same feel of being outside of a bar without having to do all the work of making a simple syrup. Buying tons of booze..." 

Q. Favorite emoji?

🤗 

What's next for Otello? Moving closer to Healdsburg and house hunting.