GUEST SHIFT: BRENT HUNTER, 353
Brent Hunter | Photo: Victoria Sedefian/The Dishing
Brent Hunter, owner of 353 cocktail bar in Troy, talks construction, craft cocktails + making the perfect ice.
Interview: Susie Davidson Powell
Photos: Victoria Sedefian/The Dishing
Location: 353, Troy, N.Y.
Read about Brent’s new cocktail here. ADD LINK!!!!!!
Tastemaker: Brent Hunter @brenton_james_
353: @353_troy
Hometown: Latham
Current city: Burnt Hills
Personal style Jeans and T-shirt/ ray ban
Listening to: 90s rock..Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters
Favorite spirit: Gin
Favorite classic cocktail: Negroni
Favorite bar or venue ever: Milk & Honey – some of the best modern classics were created there
Biggest cocktail influence: Death & Co
Drink trend that should end: Canned cocktails
The Dishing talks with tastemakers in the hospitality industry + trailblazers at the intersection of food, culture + art. Today we talk with Brent Hunter about mechanical engineering, hospitality, ice as an ingredient + building a bar from scratch.
Hey, Brent. Thanks for talking to The Dishing! Let’s get into it! You’re a local lad - born and raised in Latham. Give us the backstory on how you got into bartending and where you’ve worked.
I got into bartending at 18 years old when I was working at a restaurant in Latham called Bennigans. They basically said, “Hey, we think you’d be a good bartender!” and the rest was history! I went from the service bar well to the main bar 5 days a week quickly and eventually took a role in management where I learned about inventory, ordering, scheduling and staff management. From there I went to The Ripe Tomato in Ballston Spa where I got to expand my knowledge of classic cocktails. After that I worked in Saratoga at The City Tavern… [laughs] What an experience… I worked in their night club “The Boom Boom Room” on the 4th floor for 9 years.
You must have seen it all up there! Alright, we have seen wine and cocktail bars come and go in Troy. 353 is both craft cocktails and beer. What do you feel you have created at 353 that feels so welcoming for guests?
The goal was to design an approachable space so anyone can casually walk through the door and feel comfortable getting a quality cocktail or a pint. But, to be honest, craft beer isn’t an impact for us. Almost every guest comes to 353 for a cocktail, but we do like to have a small selection of wine and local drafts and beers for everyone. I think the casual atmosphere just makes people really feel comfortable.
You went to school for mechanical engineering but decided hospitality is where you wanted to be. What does hospitality mean to you?
It happened almost by accident. Hospitality or bartending wasn’t even on my radar – it was just suggested to me. But as I got into doing it and working with people, I just found I loved it. I’m a very active person and I like the controlled chaos and rush of the bar atmosphere. I think for hospitality you are constantly having conversations with people you generally might not have the opportunity to meet in your day to day life. Making people feel comfortable and welcome. So the best part is really all the people I’ve met through the years.
You self-funded 353 and did the build out yourself. Where did you find the confidence to take this on as a solo venture and what’s your inspiration for the style?
I bought the building in 2015 and I was already a pretty handy person as I had been working as a painter, but I really wanted to learn the various trades more and so I slowly stumbled into this by learning how to do flooring, framing, lay tile. You can save yourself a lot of money and I think doing it yourself builds more of a connection to the space. I mean this was previously a nail salon and a barber shop. I was building it in my spare time with the help of great friends and so it was a great way to have full control over the design and materials I used for the project. Like I didn’t want to open up the main wall and disturb any pipes so I collected the brick off job sites, cut the faces off the bricks, and added them to the wall to create that exposed brick aesthetic along with the distressed ‘Enjoy Troy’ mural, so it looks as if it has always been there.
You opened 353 in 2022 on the heels of the pandemic but still definitely impacted by it. What convinced you this was the right time to open the bar and why a bar rather than a restaurant? Can you imagine adding food at some point?
Well, this project started in 2019 before COVID-19 happened and when I was about 75% finished. With the industry hit so hard, I, like many others, held off from opening until there were signs of change and going back to “the norm.” But I would like to expand in the future to accommodate a full service kitchen. We do offer some small plates and sandwiches, you know like charcuterie, a spinach artichoke dip, nacho platter, baked brie…
I know you’re passionate about your ice for your cocktails. You make yourself in huge blocks on site at 353 before hand cutting and imprinting it with your logo. Can you describe the process and why ice is so critical to the overall cocktail program?
Yeah, we have a Clinebell ice making machine which produces 100 lbs of clear ice blocks every 24 hours! Once harvested from the machine they’re cut down into size using a bandsaw. Our 2x2 cubes are stamped with the 353 logo just before they go into the drinks. Ice is an ingredient itself – our ice has a slower melt rate with it being pure, no impurities, so its appearance is super clear. The Clinebell pushes impurities to the top and we get these thick clear blocks at the bottom. Yeah, some bars buy inlarge cubes – like Hundred Weight is the godfather of the ice making business. I guess I just have this thirst for knowledge and I wanted to learn more about it and do it myself. We have fun experimenting with different shapes so depending on the cocktail we make spears, 2x2s and 2x3s.
Your cocktail menu is a mixture of classic cocktails + 353 signature creations. You used to craft the entire cocktail program but now your whole staff is involved in building the seasonal menu. What’s a favorite cocktail you have created? And what’s something you’d like to create that you haven’t quite featured out yet?
I've been enjoying the process of clarifying cocktails like the traditional clarified milk punch. On our fall menu, I created an “Apple Bottoms Up” which tastes like apple crisp in a glass! On every menu we always add a drink that works with our flavor blaster bubble. Guests love the interaction that comes with our smoke-filled bubble cocktails, plus we have different aromas to play with every seasonal menu change. For something still to create, I would like to do more fat-washing. I haven’t really got into working with that.
Your menu features a number of complex non-alcoholic cocktails. With a decline in drinking, how important is it to you to offer non-alc or low-ABV options?
We do have a separate mocktail menu and a lot of staff effort goes into making sure our N/A friends get a craft cocktail experience. Bars are a social gathering place and we want all to be included. We try to work with a lot of the N/A spirits that are out there, but it can be tricky because something that’s categorized as a London dry gin doesn’t always quite translate. So we might use syrups or coffee as options. We put as much effort into those as we do our regular cocktails on the list.
Restaurants and bars are still reporting less foot traffic since 2020 as well as trends towards earlier dining, along with the closure of late night clubs. What do you see as the future for bars?
The night club scene has taken a huge hit… but I think the bar scene is in a healing process post-pandemic. The younger generation was impacted the most with the shut down and I think they are choosing to have different experiences in their twenties. But bars aren't going anywhere.
Whether by yourself, or when friends come to visit, where would be 3 go-to favorite spots in the Hudson Valley or Capital Region for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
Ok, for breakfast I’d say Ugly Rooster in Malta, lunch at Herbies Burgers and dinner at Milas in Schenectady. I had the best steak I’ve ever had at Milas. The food is phenomenal, drinks are great and, as you know, Andrew (their bar director) is top tier.
Where are some of your favorite places for cocktails anywhere in the Hudson Valley or Capital District?
So Wm. Farmer & Sons makes great classic cocktails and has a good atmosphere; Hamlet & Ghost of course has a strong mixology program and I’d say they were kind of the first ones in this region to really focus on cocktails, and then Milas - well, I just know I’m always going to get something I’ve never seen before. The things Andrew incorporates form the kitchen - it’s so cool.
Imagine an ideal day or night out. If you could go anywhere with no limits on costs or reservations, where would you go and how would the day or night unfold?
I'm itching for a weekend out in NYC to get to Double Chicken Please and see a Knicks game, courtside.
What’s next? Any new projects or programming at 353?
Always something in the works…stay tuned.
Thanks for talking to us, Brent!
