Salt Lake Cocktails 

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• Courtesy Photo
• The Side Bar features Ogden’s Own products in a sleek, comfortable setting.

By Your Side
A companion bar to Ogden´s Own Distillery is a ¨safe space¨ for cocktail drinkers.
By Thomas Crone

It doesn't take but a single question to get Mark Fine talking about the Side Bar (615 W. Stockman Way, Ogden) for a good 15 minutes or more. And that's no knock on the man or his enthusiasm for the new business that he operates in tandem with Ogden's Own Distillery.

Opened in late October 2021, Side Bar is not quite a year old, though business has been brisk—from an in-town audience, sure, but also from farther-flung regulars assembling from Salt Lake and Park City.

And on top of those customers are the scores of once-through clientele who were keenly felt over the winter months, when folks traveling to nearby ski slopes found their way into the craft cocktail bar that looks, literally, into the distillery that provides much of its backbar stock.

In many respects, Side Bar is "a showcase"—as Fine calls it—of products created onsite. A lot of those names are going to be familiar to local drinking culture fans, lables like: Five Wives and Five Husbands Vodka; Porter's Whiskeys; Madam Pattirini Gin; and Underground Herbal Spirit.

Currently on the menu are four silos of house cocktails broken down into categories: Spicy; Sweet and Fruity; Sour and Refreshing; and Spirit Forward. These designations, says Fine, allow for informed experimentation, "something that people can relate to."

Each of those four cocktail silos come with 10 drink options—thus, 40 house cocktails make up the spine of the Side Bar business, which also features a range of mocktails, some wines and a half-dozen-strong, Utah-brewed beer list.

And while the Ogden's Own brand is the one most-represented on the backbar—for all the obvious reasons—multiple brands from around the U.S. and the world are on hand.

The idea of the entire Side Bar operation is to create "a safe space where people can get really cool cocktails," Fine said. "They can also have a simple rum and Coke, then sit back and not be bothered. They can be on a date night, a girls night out, at a business meeting, be by themselves. Anything, really. And our staff is not pretentious."

In fact, let's start this round of "What's the Deal With the Side Bar?" by touching on the role of those staffers.

A Bartender by Any Other Name
Fine says that the bartenders at the Side Bar aren't bartenders ... at least not in title. And he eschews the popular phrase "mixologist," as well.

Instead, they're "liquid chefs." And they're also the floor staff, as there aren't servers or drink runners. If a customer has an empty glass at the table and the bar staff notice, they'll meander out, getting a bit of feedback. Based on that, they'll return to the bar area to work on another drink from scratch.

'From Scratch' Means From Scratch
At the Side Bar, juices are squeezed onsite and syrups and flavors have been created there, too.

Everyone's been to a bar and seen last month's bottle of orange juice come out of the cooler. It's an unsettling feeling. At Side Bar, the hour before open is largely spent in detailed prep work, with juicing and fruit presses ever in action.

"We make our own turmeric syrup," Fine says, "and our own horchata from rice milk. The fruit is all pressed for juice right here."

Wednesdays Are Wonder Full
Not "wonderful," but full of wonder. See, that's a night in which you might get a bit of circus-like flair, be it from burlesque or drag performers, a mime or musicians of all genres.

"We give them a space to work on their act," says Fine, "and expose people to their art, but who might not want to pay for the performance, for whatever reason. The night's full of great surprises and the music is low-key, so that the customers can come in and still be able to talk."

A Vessel, a Glass, a Tiny Bathtub
Cocktails at the Side Bar come to your table or bartop seat in any number of glassware styles and some of those are even, well, glasses.

One new drink, teased to a reporter but not yet on the menu, comes in a little bathtub. It's a gin-based beverage—harkening back to "bathtub gins"—and reportedly it comes with a sprig of blue cotton candy (which immediately melts upon impact) and a li'l rubber ducky.

Fine notes that the ducky will be a take-home item, but the bar's glasses—er, "vessels"—will remain in the bar. But even the most-honest person in the room could be tempted to abscond with the ceramic monkey (see recipe in photo caption); ditto for the old-school lunchboxes for another, PB&J-themed drink special.

And Yet ...
Even as he speaks fondly of his bar's glassware game, Fine notes that the place will ultimately be judged on how good the drinks are. Pretty simple on that count, and yet... "The whole thing here is that the drink has to taste good. A lot of bars make really good cocktails. Here, it's also about the vessels, the garnishes"

Those garnishes may include everything from a cucumber slice to a pineapple wedge to a Girl Scout cookie, though those, it must be said, are just about gone for the season.

Speaking of Seasons
Side Bar is ever on the hunt for new ingredients, and team members regularly suss out new and interesting vendors at local farmers markets.

That might mean investing in a seasonal fruit or vegetable. It might mean picking up a jar of jam and seeing what can be done with that. And cheese and meat boards are supplied from local farmers and cheesemakers. That said...

This Ain't a Restaurant
Fine says Side Bar plays a supporting role in the dining culture of Ogden. With limited hours (4-10 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday nights) they want to provide a place to have a sip before dinner, or another after.

But they're not looking to be a spot that offers multi-course meals or anything that distracts from "the many other great restaurants in the area," including those on Historic 25th Street, Fine said. "We purposefully close at 10 p.m. so that people visit other" options.

And Lastly, Value
Emphasizing that the highest-priced menu item is a $14 cocktail "with most running between $10-12," Fine says that the idea is to keep pricing in an approachable range, even in a period when craft cocktails in SLC are edging up to above the $20 mark at some establishments.

Fine says that visitors from around the country, in town for skiing and other recreation, frequently note that the price points are a plus.

Complet List of Utah Distilleries