ABIGAIL GULLO APPOINTED HEAD BARTENDER AT COMPÈRE LAPIN IN NEW ORLEANS
Award-Winning Cocktail Maven Crafts Classic Cocktails with Modern Twists
Compère Lapin’s renowned cocktail program just became even more exceptional with the appointment of Abigail Gullo as Head Bartender at Chef Nina Compton’s hot New Orleans restaurant in the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery.
“Abigail’s rise to helm the bar at Compère Lapin was an easy decision. Her tenacity, talent and incredible disposition are amazing and the collaboration between her and Nina creates such a harmony between cuisine and cocktails,” says co-owner Larry Miller.
Indeed Gullo’s cocktails are designed to complement Compton’s robust dishes and are modern yet approachable, utilizing fresh produce and herbs. Signatures include the Andromeda – pisco, green chile vodka, lime and grapefruit, with a splash of rosè cordial and the Fontanarosa (named after Gullo’s grandmother) – kaffir lime vodka, lime, fennel and beet. New cocktails rolling out this spring include Paris Between the Wars – Scotch, lemon, honey and bitters, topped with pear cider and Gentleman’s Caller – gin, sherry, Aperol and Genepy.
Gullo first discovered her love for mixology when her grandfather taught her how to make a Manhattan when she was only 7 years old. As a young adult, she moved to Ireland to work in theatre, and quickly became known for transforming her Dublin apartment into a cocktail salon, crafting libations for friends and colleagues.
An experienced off-Broadway singer and actress in New York City, theatre teacher by trade, and graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, Gullo switched careers to professional bartending in 2009 while living in Manhattan. She worked at a handful of restaurants, bars, and lounges and began blogging about the craft at RyeGirl (www.ryegirlnyc.blogspot.com), a site she continues to maintain. Around that time, local spirits industry legend LeNell Smothers nominated Gullo as a member for the New York chapter of the charity-driven society Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC).
From 2010 to 2012, Gullo served as Head Bartender at Fort Defiance in Brooklyn, while helping to open The Beagle in East Village in 2011. As a result of her frequent travels to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail, and roster of mixology awards, Gullo landed the job as head bar chef for Sobou, then the newest venture from the Commander’s Family of Restaurants in the Crescent City. In 2015, Gullo was tapped by award-winning bartender Ricky Gomez, to join the beverage team at Compère Lapin, where she worked alongside Gomez in developing the restaurant’s cocktail menu.
Gullo’s original cocktails have been recognized in numerous national and international competitions as well as in the media. Her margarita won People’s Choice at the 2010 Tales of the Cocktail, and her drinks have been featured in The New York Times, Imbibe, Garden & Gun, In The Mix, and Food & Wine magazine among others. Gullo was named Eater NOLA’s “Bartender of the Year” in 2014; is a finalist in Heaven Hill Liquor.com’s “Bartender of the Year” 2016; and winner of Tullimore Dew’s “Best Bartender Stories”. A member of the United States Bartenders Guild and proud supporter of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans, Gullo prefers her Manhattans stirred, not shaken.
About Compère Lapin
For all-things-culinary at Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans’ Warehouse Arts District, Provenance Hotels has partnered with Chef Nina Compton to launch this exciting new restaurant. Formerly of the critically acclaimed Scarpetta at Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where she worked under celeb chef/restaurateur Scott Conant, Compton brings to Old No. 77 close to 15 years’ experience in the industry and a unique style melding Caribbean flavors, French technique and a mastery of Italian cookery. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and Top Chef: New Orleans alumnus, Compton – as chef/partner of Old No. 77 – oversees the property’s food & beverage concerns as well as helm Compère Lapin. Open since June 2015, it has been the Crescent City’s most buzzed about new restaurant. The menu is as diverse, colorful and tempting as the city itself with offerings ranging from cold smoked tuna tartare curried goat and gnocchi to roasted drum and roasted banana zeppole. With a beverage program overseen by cocktail maven Abigail Gullo, Compère Lapin is one of the hottest new restaurants in NOLA. Compère Lapin is located at Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans’ Warehouse Arts District, 535 Tchoupitoulas Street. Telephone: (504) 599-2119; www.comperelapin.com.
