A Salt Lake City bar has been named as a nominee — essentially, a finalist — for the prestigious James Beards Awards, which celebrate the best in the food and beverage world.
The James Beard Foundation announced Wednesday that Water Witch, at 163 W. 900 South in the Central Ninth neighborhood, made it to the nominee list. It is up against fellow nominees Kumiko in Chicago; Scotch Lodge in Portland, Oregon; The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday in Philadelphia; and Wolf Tree in White River Junction, Vermont.
In 2022, Water Witch was a semifinalist for Outstanding Bar Program, and in 2024, chef David Chon at Bar Nohm, Water Witch’s sister bar, was nominated for Best Chef in the Mountain region.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The cozy Water Witch nuzzles up next to Bar Nohm offering patrons a pass through doorway or patio bypass in Salt Lake City, on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
Creating a ‘neighborhood cocktail bar’
Sean Neves, who co-founded Water Witch with Scott Gardner and Matt Pfohl in 2016, said being included on the James Beard nominee list was “just crazy.”
“Some of the other bars that are on that list are just amazing operations that we really look up to, so we’re definitely honored,” Neves said.
The bar’s day-to-day operations are run by an “amazing assemblage of super talented young people,” Neves said, including general manager Kenzi Anderson, assistant general manager/lead bartender JJ Barth, and Adam “Scoop” Kaessner, who is our “mad scientist, creative crazy person that puts together all of our ideas.”
When Neves, Gardner and Pfohl were looking for a space to turn into a bar, they heard about a tiny vacant spot in Central Ninth and decided to jump on it, “because we really thought that that neighborhood was going to go off,” Neves said. Central Ninth was still developing at that time, far from the vibrant food and drink hub it is now.
The trio’s “only rubric for Water Witch was that our first bar should be a place you want to hang out in,” Neves said.
They started “really playing around with what cocktails could do, but we didn’t want it to be really super formal.” Instead, “... we wanted to do a neighborhood cocktail bar. That’s what we tried to pull off, and I think that’s what we succeeded in doing.”
When Water Witch first opened, they didn’t have a cocktail menu. Instead, they did “wild card” cocktails, where people would come in and tell the bartender what they were in the mood for, and then the bartender would come up with a delicious drink.
Eventually, they had to develop a set menu for efficiency’s sake, Neves said, but Water Witch’s menu still changes with the seasons. In the winter, the bartenders will use more vinegars and preserved ingredients; in the spring and summer, they will take advantage of locally grown produce, he said.
But no matter the season, “we try to push the envelope a little bit and get creative,” Neves said.
One area that creativity shows up in is the bar’s commitment to reducing waste. Neves said they zest all their citrus fruits before they juice them, and use that zest to make fragrant syrups. Pineapple pulp from the juicing process gets turned into decorative edible cakes for the cocktails. And they will make syrups with expired wines. All of these efforts involve Kaessner’s work, Neves said.
Water Witch even makes it own ice, using a “nerdy” water filtration system, a Clinebell ice machine and a large stainless-steel bandsaw, as an economic way to get the clearest, most long-lasting ice possible, Neves said.
“It’s a pretty wild menu. We just try to have fun with it and keep it creative and light on its feet and give somebody a new experience every time they come in,” he said.
Utah semifinalists missed the cut
Three other semifinalists from Utah in the national categories didn’t make it to the nominee lists: Lavanya Mahate, owner of the Saffron Valley Indian restaurants; Adalberto Diaz, co-owner, founder and executive chef of the bakery Fillings & Emulsions; and small-plates Greek restaurant Manoli’s.
Five Utah chefs were included among the 20 regional semifinalists in the Best Chef: Mountain category, which covers Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming:
• Mike Blocher and Nick Fahs, Table X, 1457 E. 3350 South, Salt Lake City.
• Andrew Fuller, Oquirrh, 368 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City. He was nominated in the same category in 2023.
• Matthew Harris, tupelo Park City, 1500 Kearns Blvd., Park City.
• Nick Zocco, Urban Hill, 510 S. 300 West, suite 100, Salt Lake City. In 2024, Zocco was named as a finalist in the same category.
The winners of the awards will announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on June 16 in Chicago.