GUEST SHIFT: KESHONN HATCHER, {pretty to think so}
Keshonn Hatcher. | Photo: Konrad Odhiambo/The Dishing
Keshonn Hatcher, bar director of {pretty to think so} in Rhinebeck, talks to The Dishing about working in Tokyo, farm-to-table cocktails, the Marines + prioritizing his mental health.
Interview: Susie Davidson Powell
Photos: Konrad Odhiambo/The Dishing
Location: {pretty to think so}, Rhinebeck
Tastemaker: Keshonn “Shonn” Hatcher, Bar Director | IG: @threat_expert
Where: {pretty to think so} | IG: @prettytothink.so
Hometown: Nashville
Current city: Poughkeepsie , NY
Personal style: My personal style changes often, but I really love to dive into different styles of fashion. My closet ranges from cowboy hats, vintage and suits to mainstream street wear like Supreme, OFW and Kith.
Listening to: Honestly a bit of everything. My music rotation is broad so one second I could be listening to Clairo and Cardi B then a full switch up to System of a Down or Drake, just to name a few.
Favorite spirit/non-alc: Mezcal/Shochu
Favorite classic cocktail/non-alc drink: Paper Plane!
Coffee or tea and what’s your order: Earl Grey, all day
Biggest industry influence/inspiration: Steve Schneider & Shingo Gokan /James Kent
Drinks industry trend that should end: Unbalanced cocktails.
Zach Wolfgramm. Photo: Victoria Sedefian/The Dishing
The Dishing talks with tastemakers in the hospitality industry + trailblazers at the intersection of food, culture + art. Today we’re talking with Keshonn Hatcher, bar director of {pretty to think so} in Rhinebeck.
Keshonn, thanks for talking with The Dishing! We first met in 2020 when you were working at The Dutchess for both Exec. Chef Mark Margiotta + bar director/mixologist Madeline Dillon. That’s the same team who went on to found {pretty to think so} where you have taken over the bar director reins. How have you enjoyed moving from culinary into mixology + do you find much overlap between them?
I think they overlap greatly in terms of technique and production. Utilizing my culinary background in cocktails has helped me understand how to pair the unconventional with the conventional and that often leads to a variety of changes across our beverage and food program. I would say it adds to my ambition being able to jump between both sides of the fence.
You have been vocal about sustainability in terms of limiting food waste. Your goal this fall was to create a cocktail menu focused on local spirits, ferments and shrubs using your spring/summer produce. What does that sustainability look like for your bar?
This is a hill I'm still climbing which is limiting waste behind the bar. My goal is always to be dynamic but realizing constant change does come with challenges. This year we grew quite a lot of fruit, berries and vegetables in chef Mark’s garden so I challenged myself to make vermouths and shrubs that would eventually fall into our fall and winter seasonal cocktail programs.
Keshonn Hatcher | Photo: Konrad Odhiambo/The Dishing.
I want to turn the focus to you personally. This summer you were candid on social media about your own mental health struggles and acknowledged you lost much of your twenties to isolation and fighting an internal war. We’re seeing more openness around mental health in the industry. Will you share a little about your journey?
Grief is inescapable mainly because you can't live without loss. I experienced a lot of it and I never truly accepted it or learned how to cope with it. That builds up on top of the normal wear and tear of being “human.” I spent a lot of my youth behind a wall until I couldn't. In the Black community especially, men aren't taken seriously when they put their mental health center stage. It often leads to self destruction. A lot of my life has been a war within so I recently put myself into therapy for the first time and although it’s a new experience I found it rewarding.
The bar/hospitality industry is notorious for burnout. How do you rest or maintain a work/life balance?
I honestly have yet to find a burnout point in my career. I give a different level of love for hospitality than a lot of my peers. I seek to change the industry, not be just another cog in it. I will say I am restless and always on the go so I don't have the ideal work/life balance, but I do make time to enjoy myself by traveling or being spontaneous.
You joined the U.S. Marines Corps after high school and traveled extensively in Asia and Europe after that. Where did you travel or work and how has that experience shaped you or your career?
Traveled pretty heavily throughout Asia. Japan is somewhere I lived for 2 years and Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are a few places where I also spent extensive time. Working in different cultures and cuisines built a sense of purpose for me in hospitality — I became consumed in it, in truly meeting fresh faces and crafting experiences. Even when I was in the kitchen I was enthralled. In Tokyo, I worked in a restaurant called Arakaki and a ramen place, and a Tokyo night club too. I also traveled and worked in Italy, Spain. I was abroad for 5 years….
You grew up in Nashville, TN. What are some of your childhood or teen food memories?
My childhood involved a lot of growing up really fast . My mother was basically a youth raising a baby so we grew up together. I learned with her . She is one of the hardest working women I know . She wasn’t the best cook but her meat loaf was always bomb . My most held on to memory was a very salty batch of fried chicken she made that almost put me and my brother in a coma .
The many tattoos of Keshonn Hatcher | Photo: Steven Howard (provided)
During your time in the Marines, you lived in California (LA + San Diego) during your twenties but ultimately moved to the East Coast to attend the CIA in Hyde Park. Where did you work upstate after graduating?
The thing I retained the most about the marines was hard work even when uncomfortable . I worked full time throughout my time in college . I started in late 2019 with Mark at the dutchess in the kitchen and evolved from there . Everything else kind of lined up due to covid working at BIA in Rhinebeck briefly, still probably my favorite place in Rhinebeck outside of us . I assisted in opening Stissing House and took the helm of Reason and Ruckus for a few years while waiting for my next opportunity .
You have some striking tattoos. Did you get these in the Marines or during your travels?
I got a great amount of my tattoos while traveling in and out of the Marines . Tattoos made it easier to hide the experiences that shaped me so my tattoos are a story of growth and decline. My favorite - which is actually unfinished - is a Japanese style-frog I got in Spain.
You were mentored at The Dutchess by mixologist Madeline Dillon who crafted the initial bar program at {pretty to think so}. Some of her originals like the goat-cheese fat washed martini are still on the menu but since you became Bar Director you’ve put your own mark on the program. What cocktail are you most proud of to date and what’s something that you haven’t yet made yet but you’d love to figure out?
I was honestly inspired by Dillon’s creativity. It brought back my desire to make drinks again, especially since Steve Schneider (Employees Only, Sip + Gizzle) who originally got me fixated on cocktails was international. I had already established myself before meeting the team at The Dutchess but I was searching for a spark of change in my career. I love to learn so I am always searching for what's next. Getting into farm-to-table was new for me and through learning newfound techniques and opportunities I found myself creating cocktails I had only contemplated before. Currently my favorite on the menu is my tropical Ramos Gin Fizz called Azula.
There’s a well-documented decline in younger people drinking. How important do you think it is for bars to accommodate low or non-alc into drink menus nowadays?
Low ABV honestly should have a home on all cocktail programs going forward, and I mean that at an appropriate price point as well not a $25 dollar reverse Manhattan. I am still learning non-alc cocktails and their appropriate value for the guest — meaning something well crafted and enjoyable. At the end of the day, drinking is a social activity so although people are drinking less bars keep value due to the ability to get people bonding in a space or the experience .
Tell us 3 of your favorite spots to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner anywhere upstate?
3! I wish it was 13! So for breakfast it has to be Alex’s in poughkeepsie. Lunch would be either Hudson & Packard or Rossi’s Deli. Dinner is definitely at BIA (especially on Sunday, IYKYK.) Honestly, it's hard to narrow it down for me but this is close.
Imagine it's your day off. Reservations are not an issue, and you can get in anywhere in the world. Where would you go and how would your day or night unfold?
If I was to leave this world tomorrow, I definitely want to experience Noma in Copenhagen. But, for a day off, it would have to be a cocktail and bar snack hop in N.Y.C. I’d start at Sip & Guzzle or Overstory, then a quick stop at a wine bar - Aldo Sohm or Good Guys - and dinner at SAGA or Frevo, before a late night night cap at Attaboy.
You do quite a lot of offsite catering and bar work. I think chef Mark did Burning Man and you recently flew out to xxx for an event. What other events or collabs do you have in the works?
Recently stepped into helping with Woodfire Food for a wedding in Wyoming which was a breathtaking experience but I am always open to collabs. Currently I’m working on doing some fun pop ups in the city and here upstate . Also looking to host my friends from Goodnight Kenny for a pop up at {PTTS} . Think pickle martinis and guava margaritas .
Do you see yourself ever opening your own restaurant or bar? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I currently have a few concepts I want to explore. I have a few that want to work under our current umbrella with our restaurant group at {pretty to think so}, one currently being a craft cocktail bar with a focus on a fried chicken shack or a project involving curated music. I believe in a team coming together to build projects because I enjoy collaboration and creating. In 5 years I plan to have expanded my connections and influence in hospitality. But who knows? Maybe Nashville may see me bring something that way or even abroad.
Last call: You’re about to be marooned on a desert island for a year, but we can bring you one final cocktail. What would be your request?
To limit to one final cocktail, it would be a very expensive vesper or a zombie. May as well go big or go home !
Thanks for talking with us, Keshonn! We’re looking forward to seeing what else you create in the F+ B space.
