BEHIND THE BAR

Behind the Bar with Keri Poggi

The Lodge at Blue Sky’s mixologist created the restaurant’s signature cocktail.

by Merlin Varaday photos by Travis Engvall

Every night bartenders perform in front of a crowd of thirsty customers, and Keri Poggi is a rock star. She even has a background as a singer/songwriter. Her main gig now, however, is bartending at Yuta in Auberge Resorts’ The Lodge at Blue Sky. Three years ago, the ambitious mixologist beat out more experienced bartenders to create the restaurant’s signature cocktail, aptly named The Horse Thief. The drink is an homage to the heroic efforts of Blue Sky’s owner, Barb Phillips, to rescue Gracie, an abused horse who became the first of many neglected horses to receive care, medicine and treatment provided by Saving Gracie Equine Healing Foundation. Poggi’s multilayered berry and spice cocktail is now a permanent fixture on beverage menus at all Auberge Resorts worldwide, and the proceeds from it benefit the rescue nonprofit at the Wanship resort. Additionally, Poggi has juggled all of this while raising her daughter to be a Utah “nature girl” like her mom.

HOW DID YOU BECOME THE BARTENDER AT THE BAR AT THE LODGE AT BLUE SKY?

Bartending fell in my lap, honestly. I moved here from Illinois in 2012 with my husband (then boyfriend), and I had worked as a cocktailer, making two-step drinks. I got a job at a bar, and the bartender was leaving in two weeks, so she trained me up. That was over 10 years ago, and when we moved to Park City, I bartended at The Spur Bar & Grill and [was] also raising a 3-year-old. I heard about the opportunity at The Lodge at Blue Sky before the building was even completed. I was hired as the bartender a month before the hotel opened three years ago.

YOU CREATED A SIGNATURE COCKTAIL FOR THE LODGE AT BLUE SKY CALLED THE HORSE THIEF. HOW DID THAT CREATION COME TO BE?

The task force manager who was in charge of opening The Bar was creating cocktails and invited me to make drinks with her. I was ready to play behind the bar again. She told me that there were certain specs to follow — a muddled fruit in a tequila- and whiskey-based cocktail. I’d never created menu content before. I wanted the cocktail to reflect a story. She was thinking of including watermelon, but I wanted to use a fruit that would be available year-round. I went with blackberries, which are a little bit on the tart side. I thought that would reflect a personality trait that goes along with The Horse Thief. I also thought that Barb stealing/saving a horse is kind of spicy. She’s got a kick to her, and the ginger in the cocktail is my ode to that. Now, we juice the ginger and mix it with a simple syrup, but in the beginning, I simply muddled the ginger myself. The tequila and whiskey were an easy pick. I wanted to use High West Distillery, because people ask for something local. Campfire whiskey is kind of smoky, and it’s a reflection on Barb being this rough-and-tumble cowgirl. I also wanted the cocktail to have something unique, and green Chartreuse is an herbaceous liqueur that brings out the other elements. There is also a spicy rim on half the glass, with ground Aleppo pepper, cayenne, kosher salt, smoked paprika and sumac, put through a spice grinder. It’s definitely got a kick to it. We created seven versions to get to the one that made it to the tryouts for Blue Sky’s signature cocktail.

The CFO and other Auberge Resorts executives, as well as ranch hands, owners Michael and Barb Phillips — everyone who has been very important to The Lodge at Blue Sky since the beginning — were all there to taste the drinks that were competing to be the signature cocktail. Barb had the final say, and she chose my drink! The rest is history.

THAT MUST HAVE BEEN A PRETTY AMAZING MOMENT.

It was. I didn’t really understand the magnitude of it yet. I didn’t know it was going to go international. All of the Auberge properties had The Horse Thief on their menus for the first year we were open. I was just happy to be a part of it; I didn’t think in a million years that my cocktail would be chosen. It gave me the confidence to lean into learning more and creating content for our seasonal drink menus.

The Horse Thief has multiple steps, and I initially had some doubts about whether it would be fast and easy enough for bartenders to make repeatedly. Barb said, “It wasn’t easy to save Gracie, and this cocktail shouldn’t be easy either.” That will stick with me forever.

IF BARB IS A “ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE COWGIRL,” HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

I am rough around the edges as well, but gooey on the inside. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, so we definitely weren’t coddled. You say it how it is, and you work hard for what you get. My parents worked from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and I was a latchkey kid. I try to find light in any situation and don’t like to be negative. I think that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.

THE HORSE THIEF

uses local High West whiskey in the drink.

WHAT DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ENJOY ABOUT LIVING IN THIS AREA?

Park City is amazing. I am super happy to be raising my 8-year-old daughter in a mountain town, versus my city background. She loves skiing, hiking and biking. She just wants to play, and that’s how my husband is as well. We connected over rock climbing, and she loves to do that, too. She is a complete nature girl, and that’s what we love about Park City. There is so much to dive into and be a part of. I love everything about Utah.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL INGREDIENTS TO USE?

I can use anything from Gracie’s Farm on the property. We use a lot of the farm’s basil, and last year we had a cocktail that contained rhubarb. I try to keep everything handcrafted and handmade as much as possible.

DO YOU HAVE SOME TOP RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE LODGE AT BLUE SKY’S MENU, WITH DRINK PAIRINGS FROM THE BAR?

Our lunch menu and bar menu pair well with drinks from The Bar. There is a cocktail I created called Pinky’s Out. It’s a spiked iced tea with house-brewed tea, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, a delicious house-made honey-sage syrup with sage from Gracie’s Farm, bourbon and bitters. It’s a delicious drink that pairs well with any food, since it’s light, refreshing and easy to sip.

At dinner, it’s best to enjoy handcrafted cocktails before your meal. Our cocktails are full of depth, and they have layers — drinking one is like a journey! We create a seasonal cocktail menu that you can enjoy for a few months, and then it’s gone. The Horse Thief is always on the menu, as well as a cocktail called the Yellow Jacket that has remained because guests were asking for it. It includes mezcal, tequila and a house-made lemon-lavenderhoney-turmeric syrup that I also use in my hot toddies. It’s a great winter cocktail. Mezcal and turmeric play really well together.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DRINK?

Beer, wine or some whiskey with a large piece of ice!

THE HORSE THIEF

3 to 5 blackberries 1/2 ounce ginger syrup 1 1/2 ounces reposado tequila 1/2 ounce High West Campfire whiskey 1/2 ounce green Chartreuse 1/2 ounce lime juice Tajín spice for garnish

> In a shaker, muddle blackberries with ginger syrup. Add remaining ingredients and ice and shake to chill. Half-rim a rocks glass with Tajín spice (or a similar house-made spicy lime seasoning) and pour over a big cube of ice.