Art Bar is operated by the nonprofit Crosstown Arts. The bar’s proceeds help to put on art shows and to pay the traveling musicians who fill the adjacent Green Room performance space. Thanks in part to Art Bar, artists get 100 percent of the proceeds from their shows. “We’re kind of an engine to keep that going,” explains Dean Mitchell. 

Dean had served as Art Bar’s manager from day one, but in December he passed the managerial torch to their longtime bartender Spencer Fong and took his talents to Bar Hustle inside the Arrive hotel. “Leaving somewhere I’ve been from its conception and seeing it become so special to so many people wasn’t easy,” says Dean. “Knowing Spencer for so long and his enthusiasm and love for the Art Bar has given me ease. I’m excited to see what he does in the future, and I’m looking forward to visiting the other side of the bar.”

Creativity fills the air at Art Bar. There’s even a space for a rotating art installation under the bar top!

“[Art Bar] was intended to be innovative cocktails incorporating things that most people haven’t used,” says Dean. “Bart Mallard, who created the opening menu, was also into foraging, so we leaned into that.” 

However, they also have a good supply of inexpensive “chicken wine” (a nickname for La Vieille Ferme, a popular and affordable French wine known for the rooster on its label) and cheap beer—so there’s something for everyone.

“We have a lot of creative freedom when it comes to making drinks,” says Sarah.

Spencer loves to experiment, and starts with questions like, “How can I warp something straightforward into something more complex and interesting?” He says his inspirations include “colors, food, stuff I like to eat, and things that taste good.”

He’s always trying to make drinks he’s never had before—that you can’t find anywhere else. “I’m chasing flavors that feel new, like savory cocktails that actually taste like food. I want that moment where you sip it and think, ‘Wait—why does this work?’” says Spencer.

He insists that the shrubs and syrups behind the bar could be incredible on wings or fish. “Maybe I’m thinking about it all backwards. A year or so ago, I made a gochujang-watermelon drink that was savory, spicy, and fruity—basically a wing sauce in a glass. We should’ve run with it,” he says.

Release the Quacken—one of Art Bar’s signature drinks—started the same way. “I inherited a giant tub of duck fat and decided to fat-wash a drink with it. We leaned into the idea: soy sauce, orange, maple—like flavors you’d serve with duck. People loved it,” says Spencer. “It was weird in the best way, and it proved that savoriness has a place behind the bar.”

Chasing the idea of making a cocktail you can eat led Spencer to craft last year’s ChampionSip: Mocktails competition winner, the Figgy Stardust. Featuring house-made nonalcoholic blackstrap rum, balsamic fig syrup, lime, and pomegranate, it was topped with house-made rosemary peppercorn sparkling water. The rich, flavorful syrup paired with herbaceous bubbles was a nod to everyone’s favorite snack—the charcuterie board.

A year later Spencer insists the balsamic fig syrup would go great on a salad or salmon.

“We always try to have one or two drinks that are experimental because that fits more into what Crosstown is as a whole,” says Spencer. 

He worked on a Miso Chicken Soup Martini for a year. He says the early attempts were like murky Mississippi River water. “Once we got it clear, we were happy about that one,” he says.

Drinks are often a team effort. When Dean was on the team, he often served as the balance to Spencer’s inner crazy scientist. “Dean let me know what could work and what couldn’t,” Spencer says with a smile.

Sarah likes to name the drinks. “I think having funny and cute names is a way to get people to come back,” she says. “It adds another level of thought. If a wonderful drink doesn’t have a good name, it can fall flat.”

Take the drink Big Squash Energy. Its star is a butternut squash, which they juice in-house. (The smaller you cut it, the better, notes Spencer, adding, “You have to peel the outside off and make sure it is nowhere near the juicer.”) Sarah says she just repeated “butternut squash” over and over all day until it lost all meaning, and then she came up with the name.

Surprisingly, one squash yields a whole mason jar of juice. Add in peppered gin, brown sugar cinnamon syrup, lime juice, Aperol, and Meletti Amaro and you get Big Squash Energy.

The team also makes their own non-alcoholic spirits. “We tried existing products, and I thought, ‘We can do this better,’” explains Dean.

For NA rum, they use lots of spices, caramelized sugar, and orange peels. “It’s similar to bitters but without alcohol. It’s somewhat medicinal,” he says.

The current mocktail on the menu—Leaf Your Love—features apricot juice, lemon juice, ginger syrup, and non-alcoholic allspice dram. Spencer says he really wanted to make something approachable.

They also are offering Delta 9 THC as an add-on in the form of Ounce of Hope’s honey. They dilute it half and half with water to 20mg. “People, especially younger people, have turned away from drinking,” says Dean. By offering Delta 9, Art Bar has been trying to get ahead of that trend.

Spencer says the honey adds a more earthy tone, and a herbaceousness. He dials back on the sweetness of the mocktail before adding it in. 

Dean mentions that Art Bar has 5mg seltzers and staff encourage customers to wait an hour between THC-infused drinks.

And, yes, they also have things to munch on. The menu features just a few small plates because of the small kitchen size. Guests can choose from apple brie puff pastries, buffalo chicken dip, and pesto pita pizza, featuring pesto made in-house.

Sarah says that the clientele really sets the bar apart. “I love the people that come in here. We have such a diverse group—artists in residence, people coming for shows, regulars, and the people who live and work in the building,” she says.

For Spencer, too, the people he meets are among the best parts of the job. “This is where I met [Memphis artist] Birdcap,” he says. “I made him the craziest drinks, and we became friends. He brings people here all the time now, and it’s an honor. It inspires me to stay on it.”

He especially likes to wow the concourse residents who come in all the time. “I try to get to know them as well,” he says. “They’ll say, ‘I want a drink with this liquor,’ and I ask them for an adjective or two, and go from there.” 

He says that’s part of the fun of being a bartender. “I’m here seven to eight hours a day and might as well keep experimenting. Most of the time it works now,” he says proudly.

After five years, Spencer is always looking for new ideas and methods to turn into crazy drinks. “I have enough ideas for at least three years,” he says confidently. “I have so many drinks I could light on fire.”

Art Bar
1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 280
crosstownarts.org/art-bar

Stacey Greenberg is the editor in chief of Edible Memphis. You can follow her at @nancy_jew.

Ziggy Mack is an internationally published photographer about town. When not immortalizing the movements of ballerinas, circus performers, and mermaids, he spends his time finding candid moments involving delectable cuisines and the people that create them. @fomoloop