The Park Slope Bar You Need to Check Out According to Jason Hedges, the Guy Behind New York’s Finest Michelin-Rated Beverage Programs

“It's totally underrated. Even folks in Park Slope aren’t aware of it.”

Thanks so much for reading Park Slope Times! I’m Kelley MacDonald, and each week, I interview an interesting person about their life and favorite things to see, eat, and do around Park Slope. If you'd like to read these interviews, please upgrade to paid. If you stick with a free subscription, you'll receive occasional free emails. Thank you so much for being here!

Reading via email? You may need to click “view entire message” to see the entirety of this week's issue.

---

Hello! How’s your week going? We’re headed to a wedding in Vermont tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to spending the weekend in the mountains. Even though I grew up there, I’m always blown away by how beautiful Vermont is, especially this time of year when the lilacs and lupines are blooming.

Today, I’m excited to feature Jason Hedges, the award-winning beverage director who loves tennis and retreating back to Park Slope after a long work week. “It's this little sanctuary, a place to reset and feel comfortable; it’s good vibrations all over,” says Jason.

In addition to developing and running some of New York’s finest Michelin-rated beverage programs, Jason wrote “The Seasonal Cocktail: A Guide to Creative Cocktail Making” and co-founded Bar IQ, a full-service beverage consulting firm, with his wife Sonya Barash Hedges. Jason and Sonya live in Park Slope with their two young boys.

Jason shares what he loves about raising children in Park Slope, how he got started in the beverage industry, and potential plans for a second book. He also reveals his favorite Park Slope bar, kid-approved panini hamburgers, and a go-to non-alcoholic wine.

Hi Jason! Where did you grow up? 

I grew up in Dutchess County in Red Hook. It’s about two hours north of the city, right up the Hudson River. I grew up upstate, but all my family was down here. My sister and I would come and stay with our grandparents over the summer. We had this connection to the city at an early age. Then, I went to school in New Paltz [CUNY New Paltz], and after that, I moved to the city in 2001 or 2002 and never looked back. I've been here for my entire adult life. 

What’s one thing that comes to mind when you think about how the city has changed over the 20+ years you’ve lived here?

When I moved here, you could still smoke in bars! 

What neighborhoods have you lived in?

I first moved to the East Village, and that was great. From there, I went to Battery Park City. And I spent a lot of time in Hell's Kitchen at two different places. Then, the Upper East Side. 

I moved to Park Slope 10 years ago because things were heating up with my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife. She had a place on Third Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. That was my first residence in Park Slope.

Now, you’re raising a family here. What do you love about Park Slope?

The sense of community is what's really appealing about Park Slope. It's a great neighborhood for kids. We have two kids and a dog, and we’ve developed this really nice circle of friends. And the kids have too. When I come home from a week of really demanding work, it's this little sanctuary, a place to reset and feel comfortable; it’s good vibrations all over. 

You’ve worked in the New York beverage industry for over 15 years. Tell us a little about your current role as Beverage Director at LT Hospitality. 

LT Hospitality is a multi-outlet property. We run food and beverage for Eventi Kimpton, on Sixth Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets. The Executive Chef, Chef Laurent Tourondel, has places all over. His flagship restaurant is L’Amico. [The beverage list at L’Amico is] wine-driven, a very deep wine cellar, and I have a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence there. [Chef Laurent Tourondel] recently opened Skirt Steak, which went viral after TikToker Sistersnacking came. Since it opened there’s still a line out the door and halfway down the block, which is amazing. Then we have Back Bar, which is very cocktail-focused. I have about 45 cocktails on the list. Within Back Bar, we have a little hidden space, a little speakeasy, and we’re doing a lot of interesting things there. 

So, my job as a Beverage Director is to create beverage lists — cocktails, spirits, wine, and beer lists for all of these outlets. Each has a specific concept; its own identity; its own glassware. So I develop and implement all of these programs. I also make sure that staff are trained and that the cost margins are staying in line. I’m constantly going to meetings and tastings and figuring out what will be cool and interesting to bring into the program. 

Did you always want to work in the beverage industry?

I kind of came in the side door. I was working as a property manager before the 2008 recession, and I hated that, in the end. It was a bad time to be in that industry. Then, I had the psychotic idea of opening up my own place. I had worked in restaurants and bars throughout college and was quite fond of it. I started talking about opening up a place with my cousin, George, a bartender in the city, but I quickly realized that my passion vastly outpaced my ability. So, I started studying, and I went to this really intense beverage-alcohol course. I had to perform as a bartender and make six drinks in less than 10 minutes. Then I started working at L'Ecole, which was the restaurant of The French Culinary Institute and later rebranded as The International Culinary Center. I met a master sommelier there, and he became my mentor. I went to The Court of Master Sommeliers, and then took a business class. So, I was doing all these things and just worked through the ranks. 

Sonya and Jason

You’re also an author! Your book “The Seasonal Cocktail” was published just over a year ago. What inspired you to write your book?

It was something that I started even before the pandemic. I had a literary agent who was going to try to publish it, but then, [the pandemic hit and] I wasn’t working in that industry. I lost my platform. But the pandemic passed, and I resurrected it. We self-published it; it was a bear [laughs]. I was able to raise money to do it and had a very small and capable team. And we got it done.

My wife, Sonya Barash Hedges, designed and illustrated the book, and her cousin, Phil Barash, was a co-writer and editor. It was the three of us, and we put a lot into it. There were times when we thought it wasn't going to happen, so it’s just so satisfying now. In the end, it was more a relief than anything else. 

Do you have plans for a second book?

I definitely want to do something, but I’m not sure just yet what that would look like. It might be something more on the wine side next time. It could be a new edition of this book. It's interesting because [“The Seasonal Cocktail”] takes all of these fresh and seasonal [ingredients] and what’s available in the market, and shows how to get these flavors into the drinks. I think there’s an opportunity to come up with a new addition that could be even more elevated than this one. That could be the next step. 

What are you looking forward to over the next year or so?

I feel like at times I’m working so hard that I’m just trying to survive [laughs]. As I work at LTH, I’m looking to simultaneously expand Bar IQ. We have some great clients and that independent work is so gratifying. It’s so hard to fit it in but it’s so gratifying to do. 

Another thing that I'm excited about here at LTH is that little speakeasy spot [mentioned above] where we’re bringing in a lot of cool guests. After the summer, we'll maybe figure out how to turn it into my own (or our) speakeasy or an elevated bar concept. We're having discussions about that, and that would be very exciting.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I have this obsession with tennis now. I live near Washington Park and the handball courts there, so I started bringing a tennis racket and hitting the ball against the wall a few years ago. I started really enjoying it, and I have a passion for it now. My wife played tennis in high school and a little bit in college, I think, so we play each other and we’re nicely matched up. She's technically a better player than me, but I guess I hustle more [laughs], so it evens out. We have a lot of fun.

So I’m very curious, as an expert beverage director, what’s one of your favorite bars in Park Slope?