E141 Meredith Barry

This week's guest is Meredith Perry, who joins us from St. Louis. Meredith got her study in the industry at an early age when she started working at the Country Club at her father managed. Meredith has progressed immensely from that first job working with many bottles to creating craft cocktails at several of the top bars in Chicago, such as Ombra, Sable and Volume 39.

Meredith has gone on to open her own bar, Platypus in St. Louis, and has also appeared as a contestant on Drink Masters on Netflix. We had a great conversation with Meredith, and it's definitely one that you'll enjoy too. Okay, we're back with another episode of the industry podcast.

This is actually the first one we had a recording in the new year, so how was your holiday then? Actually worked time and time, so how much of a holiday? I worked the whole time. I'm in the service industry.

Oh, that's right. I did forget, it's an idea that you're a bar with you. Yeah. I remember showing up to the bar.

Yeah, that's all you needed. Yeah, any new year's resolutions? This would be a better version of myself. Really?

That shouldn't be hard. No, I gotta make no resolutions. I just kind of hang out with that resolution, just try not to die. That's a good one.

That's the same thing. I started thinking that way. Yeah, that's true. My new year's resolution is to give zero support to the notion of dry January once again this year, because it's bullshit.

I don't know who came up with this concept. Eat less, maybe less carbs exercise more. Don't give up the drinking. We need to.

I'm actually seeing a lot of stuff for dry February now too. I know. It's starting to become a two month thing. It's like literally like New Year's Eve was over and no one drinks those same Patrick's Day.

Or else literally my birthday's on February. So that's great. Yeah. Well, we have a great guest as always.

Meredith Berry will be joining us in just a minute. Before we get to her, we should mention that if you like what we're doing on the podcast, you're going to want to subscribe, rate and review the show. That helps us out a great deal. If you're in the area, Kitchen Water Lue, swing by one of my bars.

That would be Sugar Run, the Speakeasy Downtown Kitchener, or Babylonsist who's Wine Bar, Uptown Water Lue. They're both open Wednesday to Saturday from Babylonsist who's at four o'clock Sugar Run at seven o'clock. Come check us out. Any shows from the archives we should be discussing?

We haven't recorded so long. I can't remember who we interviewed last. Yeah. Last week was a Monte Burro.

That's right. Monte Burro. That was super fascinating. Really smart guys.

Before that we had Stephanie Weigullar, I believe. That is correct. And our Jeff, Lauren Mote, Alikadoba, and Matt Tender. And 135 was Yelena Anter and Maddie Eigars.

So that's a good F so check those out in our archives. This is episode 141. Yes, 141. How about that?

If you would like to be a guest on the show, you should DM us at the industry podcast on Instagram, or you can email us directly at info at theindustrypodcast.club. That's also the spot to hit us up for any potential sponsorship. Aside from that, a big shout out as always to Zacana at Zacana.co who does the artwork for the Instagram page. Tremendous Graphic Gardens in the Kitchener Water Lue area hit him up for work.

And I think that's it, right? We got a great guest. Meredith Barri is here. Joining us from St.

Louis, how are you, Meredith? I'm doing good. I just drove into town, actually. I was with a whole bunch of industry people in a disclose cabin in the woods just drinking a lot.

Sounds like the precipice were a terrible thrasher film. But a thrasher film, I should say. Yeah. Sometimes I think about that if I'm out in the middle of nowhere because I grew up in cities.

So yeah, sometimes the quiet is too much. Yeah, for sure. And so you just got back to St. Louis, but you also spent a lot of time in your career in Chicago.

For those who aren't familiar, also, Meredith is one of the stars of the hit show, Drink Masters on Netflix. If you haven't watched that yet, I highly recommend it. It's super entertaining. Kager one was on the show earlier.

You might remember for some people who have been listening. And I think that you guys are buzz now. Yeah, we definitely bonded on the show. I'm really grateful for that friendship, truly.

She's an incredible person and really, really cares a lot and has been amazing in this industry. So I'm grateful for our friendship, for sure. Yeah, did you find that we learned the hard way with Kate that you can't tell us too much about the show? About the behind the scenes?

But talking about the show in general, how did you find the experience overall? And did you find that definitely more positive relationships made over the history of filming the show than negative? I think that's the best thing for me that came out of that moment is definitely the relationships. And that's the most positive thing about it.

And also a new experience, something I've never experienced before in my entire life. And all of us. So I think we all bonded in that way to be doing something special together like that. It also, I think the entire year, I've had a lot of time to really contemplate and think about how I felt about that show and being on it.

And being honest about how it's affected me. It's difficult because now I can talk about the episode. And I think it's hard to do something that you love to do, you have passion for. And it's so exciting to have an opportunity like that.

And so then when you kind of mess up on something that's so simple that you do every day and you do well every day, it messes with your mind, man. That really does. But it's not a pressure situation too. So it's a little different.

Totally. Yeah, sorry, I'm not trying to repeat. It's even way more, I imagine different than like doing, like you've obviously been a successful competitor in this service industry. You want to grab a competition and also a, what was the other one, sorry?

Compass Box. Compass Box, yeah, I love Compass Box. Yeah, so it's not like something you're not used to doing is a competitive part of it. But so how would you describe the show as being different than say doing those competitions?

Absolutely. I absolutely. Then you're so used to a certain way that those cocktail competitions go. And they have a very specific formula.

Even if maybe they do something different to push the boundaries for themselves in particular, those competitions have a formula. And this was a formula that we were all not prepared for. For sure. Cameras in front of your face is like a wild experience.

And did they give you any notion of what the competition was going to be like before you went into the show? Or were you kind of getting hit with it as you're there? I think I was getting hit with it as we were there. I mean, they kind of prepare you, but not really.

And you can't really have a concept for it if you've never experienced it yourself. I mean, they prepare you in a way of being like, all the interviews up until you get picked. I mean, they do us. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, but a psychological analysis of you to make sure that you're prepared for this kind of level of stress because you are watched at every moment.

And that's interesting. And you're being seen by everybody internationally. So there's a higher pressure for sure than just among some of your peers. Right.

Like in those individual competitions where it's like, yeah, there's some people there, but you know most of them. Right, exactly. Yeah. And then you're supposed to everybody around the world watching on the biggest streaming service in the world.

No pressure at all. When you're in the moment, do you feel any of that pressure? Or do you do your kind of like muscle memory kick in about like, well, I know how to do this. Yes.

So there's moments where you're in the middle of it. I think during the kitchen moments, I was probably the happiest because I know that. And I could literally just get it. It was difficult to go around all of the cameras for sure.

But that was probably the hardest. But it was really just kind of the dance, the new dance that you have. You're like, man, when I prep or when I'm bartending, everybody gets a flow. But these guys in the camera, they're not with your flow.

They want to interrupt your flow. And they want to. But they are looking for, I don't know if I'm allowed to say this. Well, let me say, assuming what is that, they want these dramatic moments.

So it's in their interests to maybe almost trip you up. Because that's what it created. Not even trip you up, but focus in on a moment that you may be having. So if they're seeing you have a moment of, oh, that's not quite going right, then they're going to be right.

I love that. I love that. Yeah, I love that. And also some of the viewers, that's why.

Of course. Yeah, they're looking for that. Yeah. And also the other thing is you're talking the whole time to them as well.

That's a more verbal thing, whereas if you're doing the competition, like say the Compass Box line, there's probably not a lot of talking you have to do. It's just got to do in the bartone. Well, yeah. But you usually prepare what you have to say.

Right. Yeah. Usually in those competitions, you have a prepared script for yourself. And really, you're just talking about the cocktail while you're making the cocktail is really good.

And that's a lot easier than in the middle of prepping, answering all the questions. Right. Yeah. And you're like, well, I was like, I'm getting stressed out for you thinking about it again.

It's like a little PTSD stuff. Yeah. So what is the Compass Box competition for? Like, people like me who are familiar with it?

Compass Box is an incredible scotch company. Oh, yeah. And I got an opportunity to compete in the national competition. And I won that one and then was able to go to London and compete in the international competition as well.

Oh, well. And that was a blast. Compass Box is a blended scotch. And it's like kind of, I would say, like for a while, like blended scotch was getting like a bad rep.

Sort of like everybody was talking single malls all the time. And then Compass Box came along kind of red, like sort of rejuvenated the whole now people are like back into like Johnny Walker and stuff because they realized it was good in the first place. Yeah. He used to work at Johnny Walker.

So he was showing basically, I love it because he's like dropping his bomb on also all the rules of scotch and being like, oh, yeah, I'm going to have a 30 year in here and I'm going to have 25 and I'm going to have three year deluxe blows in my mind. And he has just a tiny percentage of a three year satch in there and he had to call it the three year. That's right. Yeah.

The stupid fucking rules. Yeah. But I love it. He's very cheeky and he's brilliant and it's magical.

Heat andism is one of my favorites. It's just so it's quite true. That was one of the different me too. I love it.

Yeah. So great. And I'm certainly curious about the show, but I really want to back up and talk. One thing we don't get from watching the show and everybody again should watch it is like much about your sort of personal career, right?

Probably because they just don't have time for it. But what we're interested on the show is that. So when I talked to us a little bit about how you got into the service industry and why you decided early the moment where you realize this is what I do now. Yeah.

That's such a good question. My father was in this industry. So I started in this industry at a young age. At the time, he was a general manager of a country club.

And I started just kind of serving and doing some stuff in the kitchen. And then I was cocktailing and then I got to be behind the bar. And I was doing mainly the outside bar by the pool and making these island oasis stackers and the pre-made jug. And it was in South Carolina actually.

We're from Long Islands. And then we moved down south. And there was mini bottles. So it wasn't even regular bottles.

They weren't allowed. I think it was only until 2000. They changed the law. Maybe 2008.

They had mini bottles. Like the airplane bottles? Like the sparkles? The airplane bottles.

Yeah, really. Oh, I should. Why did they tell them? Yeah, because it was a controlled state.

So. Oh, so when you're doing that, you almost don't even need to use the jigger, really. You're just pouring. You're just pouring.

Weird. It's also in the February really gray area. It was a lot of, I'm just going to grab a couple of that. It's already a gray area, but that's even gray area.

Well, nobody's counting all those bottles. There's no fucking way. No way. So yeah.

But I did that. And I was able to move to Chicago and kind of just stayed on a looking for jobs. And they were getting really busy. And then owner Jamie came over to me and he was like, Cory says, you can bartend.

And I was like, yeah. And he's like, get behind the bar. And I was like, I've been drinking. He's like, we've all been drinking.

And then I worked there for two years. Amazing. And so was that sort of your first, would you consider like your sort of first real bartending job? Like, yeah.

So what did you learn there that kind of. And I made a terrible fucking margarita. Yeah. That's margarita.

I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. But it's kind of trial by fire, right? I was picking on those first jobs. So I always figured, and you got to fake it because you can't let the guests know that you don't know what the fuck you're doing.

So if somebody orders a cocktail, you never heard of it. And back then, I don't know what year this was. But when I first started doing it, at least there was no, I couldn't just go to my phone and Google it really quickly. Right?

There was not that. No. In fact, at the time you could still smoke in a bar. So.

Okay. So you're in my generation. In the bar, that was something else. That's taken a couple years off my life and I've never smoked.

Yeah. It was crazy though, when they stopped smoking in bars and then you smelled the bar. No. Yeah.

should smoke in here. Yeah, that's funny. I never thought about that. It didn't mask so many of the fucking smells like people take who decided and they need to go out before they take a shit.

So my bar all the time, it's amazing. I'm like, really? Like, I try to take care of that before I go out. But my bar too, the bathrooms, man.

Every time I'm like, really? Really? No. And you own your own spot now, right?

I do. I'm so grateful. I, it's a year going. So, we're talking about it.

So if you made a congratulations. I can't believe it. Yeah. I know.

I think I'm fucking crazy. Like Tony, Siputo is my business partner and my really good friend and he came to me and we were just kind of done doing it for other people, not saying that anything was bad. It was just like, we really wanted something of ourselves. And he was like, let's jump.

Let's just jump. It's time. Let's go. And I was like, you're right.

Let's go. Let's do this thing. And it's, so that's, you got to get to this point in the industry where you're like, okay, I can keep doing this. Okay.

But like, I got to at least move into something where I'm either consulting or only my own spot or something. You can't just be behind the wood forever. Like, your body starts breaking down. The hours don't appeal to you anymore.

And also like, you kind of get tired telling your family and the reunions that you're a bartender. Yeah. Even though I think that now that's become way more respectful thing to say. And I think shows like the one you were on help with that.

So yeah, I think they do. Like I like to think I like to hope so. But you get this point where you move into the ownership role and I don't know what your experience has been. But you almost feel so removed from unless you're, are you still physically bartending at the bar as well?

I was doing Sunday Mondays for a while because I just thought that they were the industry nights and I don't know. And yeah, I mean, there's, there's been some things recently that I haven't been able to do that. I got some consulting job within Chicago, which has been amazing. So I've been back and forth helping old regulars of mine there open a bar.

And now I'm like, you know, a partner in it. It's called Whiskey Girl Tavern. So that's really cool. And some other opportunities have taken me away.

And then also there's just so much to deal with on the floor sometimes and administrative work that, you know, a late night all the way, you know, until three in the morning is just not, you know, and being my age, like it just doesn't work as well. So all the time, I do miss that adrenaline. I miss that moment. Yeah.

And that's kind of what I was going to get into there is because that's what I find with myself like now, like the things I liked about being in the service industry, which is like the social isolation, like the kind of crazy pressure that you're under all the time. That's like the adrenaline that goes with that. Like I don't have any of that anymore. My job is like waiting for fucking repairman and meeting with accountants.

Like my favorite thing to the spreadsheet. That's never. No, it's like, it's not what you thought you got into the service industry. Right.

Right. That's part of it. It's exciting to watch my staff though. I think I'm living a little bit like vicariously through them, right?

Because they're excitement and seeing them, you know, get excited and about a drink or a cocktail that they're creating or how they're like moving through the night with like a sea of guests and watching them improve throughout the entire year, seeing them when they started and how they like are now it blows my mind. And we have the same staff that we started with and we've added just a few more because definitely like Tony and everybody in the beginning and now we're like, well, we shouldn't bartend because they want shifts, you know, right? Yeah. And they need to learn, right?

Like, I'll you learn. You only wait a while. Yeah. Everything.

That's the thing you just get back to you start here in your world again. But I mean, it's great for them to have like someone like you as a mentor who's because there's so many buyers that are owned just by people who have no service experience at all, right? Like I would probably say the majority of them. So I always think at least that's something that people like you and I can offer to people working for us is some fucking hands on experience.

Oh, I think it's so important. I'm not saying that somebody who's not in the industry can't run something great, but I do feel that in order to really connect with your staff, you have to have people there that are close by in those management positions at the very least that understand what it's like in their position. I always have appreciated more when somebody, you know, I'm very much of the school. I've never going to ask you to do something that I haven't done myself or I wouldn't do myself.

And I know how it feels. And yeah, man, it sucks to clean that bathroom. I know, but I've done it. I did it earlier.

We'll do it again. But tonight it's your turn, you know? I had to experience the other night because I had, um, we were short snapped at my one bar. So I actually had to like be out there on the floor again.

It was like being there till 3.30 in the morning and I was an eye opener, but there was a vomit situation and I was just like, look, I'm a team player, but my vomit cleaning days are over. They're behind me. I've done it so many times. You do learn some good things like cheap coffee grounds.

Yeah. Clean up vomit the best. I worked in a lot of nightclubs. Do you remember that old chemical that used to have that weird fucking smelling chemical that you would throw on?

It was like a powdery shit and it almost smells worse than the puke. Yeah, it was terrible. Yeah. Like it was like, I don't know why we're putting something on the puke that smells worse than the puke.

But it's not as terrible too. Yeah, so I was just bad too. It almost was like the way that they smell. Yeah, terrible.

Yeah. Yeah, the coffee grounds. So I don't know who came, it was probably an accidental one, but whoever figured it out, who knows? Who knows?

Before we forget, what is the name of the bar in St. Lewis? Platypus. Platypus.

Yeah. And so I guess we never really finished this question, but was there a point where you realized when you were in Chicago that you were like, okay, I think this is what I do for a living now? Yeah, I got to work at hamburger marries. I wanted to work there so badly because I wanted to work at a gay bar.

I wanted to work at a queer space. Yeah. And I never experienced that. And I was there and I just remember seeing the community and how bars are so essential to community and people.

And in that moment of working in that space, I believe that I found myself as well and who I was and how I could be true and honest to myself. And I had the support of those people there. And I learned so much and I actually got to be creative for the first time. I got to put something on a menu.

I had owners who were like, go for it. And I was like, that's so fucking cool. And I got to go to a farmer's market and pick out some fruit and go make a silly little farmer's market mojito. But it made me so happy.

And then I got that thirst for knowledge and creativity. And I wanted to learn more and more and more. And then eventually you grow out of those spaces and you move on to different spaces. But that was the moment that I think it's the community and the creativity.

And I was like, this down there, I'm not going to leave. And do you identify as queer? Yes. Okay.

So like before that experience at hamburger marries, did you find any roadblocks because of identifying a queer in the industry? You're saying you felt most at home there, but did you have was there backlash before that? You know, I think I didn't know. I don't know if there was backlash or maybe it was my own fear of backlash.

Internally within myself, because I was in the mode of trying to figure out who I was. So and be out in an actual community, which I didn't really have before. So, you know, I can't say necessarily that I found anything pushing back at me besides the general societal pressure. Sure.

That just is. And your own brain. In my own brain. Right.

Totally. But I also stayed in a lot of gay neighborhoods. Like I stayed in Andersonville, Chicago, and Boys Town. Majority of the time, I didn't venture out too much into until I became a part of the more craft cocktail world.

And then I started venturing out into like a couple of park and kind of, you know, Wicker Park and different areas downtown and connected to people in a different way. But you always have a sense of fear within you. I mean, there were times, I mean, I was working in a downtown place and I walk, you walk into bathrooms and you have a short hair as a woman or anybody who's queer and it's like, you're in the wrong space, you know? And there's going to be that feeling.

And there's strange moments bartending when you do kind of feel like a little token of something, you know? And people ask questions maybe they shouldn't be asking. That's personal. But especially fucking drunk people, right?

Like, yeah. There's no fucking children there. No, it makes it a thousand times worse. But that's kind of interesting that you sort of develop or you realize that you were kind of getting a personal awakening at the same time as you're getting an awakening in your journey and your profession, almost simultaneously.

Mm hmm. Yeah, that's cool. And where did you go after that to work? I worked at a place called Ombra.

Okay. I worked at the Florentine at JW Mariana did that and was incredible experience too. I don't want to knock it. It was short and I still have friends from that, you know, hotel experiences.

You're in the fire. You're working literally every single day. Doubles. So that was amazing and met some incredible people in my life that have helped me grow in my career as well and believed in me in my career to offer me other jobs and other opportunities.

So the Florentine was a really important time. And I needed that. I needed to work in a hotel setting and see what that was like. Kind of back to the fine dining that I did at the country club with my dad.

And then I worked at Ombra where I actually got to kind of run my own program for the first time. So that's exciting. And I was like that as people when they're on the show, like what do you think goes into making like a perfect, like that not perfectly not the right word, but like a great cocktail list. Like what do you, how do you attack it?

Do you attack it from spirits or from just like a completely creative side? A lot of times I just kind of look what we have and what we need to get rid of. But that's the real truth. But that's creativity then.

That's what I mean because then you're like, okay, you're taking what's there and making something out of as opposed to coming to it. Like how long to take you to like what's the process for perfecting a cocktail? Like do you have a bunch of trial and error or? I mean, sometimes you have a concept and it just like works.

And you put things together and you just, you know, start in a glass with your finger and you sip it and you're like, Oh shit, put it on the menu. I mean, that's real. And then sometimes it is like this creative process that I've looked at notes from the past, you know, like you just have Diaz, like theoretical ideas that could possibly work and flavor profiles that you'd like to go for. And then you're like, well, whatever I'm doing right now is not fucking working, table that shit, come back to it later.

And I've definitely looked at notes from the past and brought it back up. And I was like, whoa, finally, it's like I figured out the puzzle, but then this was sometimes you need to step back about it for a while, right? Like just like literally take a break. It's like, I always read about like artists like painters or whatever will do that and they start and they just get stuck and then they leave it or like a writer or whatever.

And then they come back and I found it later. And I feel like the whole craft cocktail thing is maybe not getting respected enough as a pure art form because that's what it is. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I like also, you know, I do the Mr.

Potato Head put it together. I do it, you know, you can't always have something, you know, incredibly brilliant, you know, and it all comes in Samus Ramen. We know this. There's just ratios that just work and that are good.

There's something I've been like playing around with a lot recently in my mind and talking about more on the show is that and watching the Netflix show, it kind of sort of brought this more to the forefront for me is that do you think that we're reaching like sort of an apex of where this craft cocktail thing can go? Like we're now, it's almost a more of it's about the aesthetics of the drink than actually how it's going to taste when you drink it. And like, do you feel like there's a ceiling for this or is it, can we always push through? I mean, potentially, I mean, we just found out that no more closed.

Right. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, I mean, it's this it is kind of this fear, like, have we hit this ceiling of where we're going to go? Is this sustainable?

Is this even possible anymore? And you want like, I desire to be creative and push those boundaries. And you know, sometimes I don't have the monetary means to be able to do everything that I want to go for because I can't have that, you know, contraption that does this in the center of huge. And you know, I mean, some people don't, you know, don't have the ability even having like a pressure cooker or an induction burner to even work on.

So, you know, also, where do we go? It's like, who are we serving? Right. I guess is the question.

I mean, if we talk about bars as a community, I want to have beautiful drinks that I serve to people, but also I want it to be affordable for people and I want them to enjoy it. And I don't want it to just be a lot of fluff either. I want it to be a wonderful experience for them. Yeah.

And that's, I kind of speaks to where I'm going with it too, because it's like, at some point, you do all this sort of almost masturbatory shit that you're doing to the drink that maybe impress your peers more than anyone else. Right. And then as a result, you have to charge so much for the drink that it's not affordable to the guests, right? And I think this way, like, I don't know them and why that closed down.

Like, that was what they were saying is that the business model is not sustainable, which is sad to me. What are your thoughts on that? About the sustainability of like a sort of higher end model? I mean, it is sad, because like I said, I mean, sometimes artistry takes a, you know, a certain amount of people who are able to enjoy it, unfortunately.

I mean, even we know in the art world, you can do art, but like, who's seeing it, right? Who's enjoying it? Who's able to afford it? Who's able to go and look at it and appreciate it?

And that's the same with food except and drink, except that our system temporary. It disappears in a moment. It's very theatrical, you know, theater is the same way. It's just a temporary moment.

And then I love that we can push boundaries. I want us to push boundaries with flavor and texture and aroma. And so it is sad to me because I want to be able to do that. I want people to experience that.

I want to experience it myself. But where do we go from here? In case there are ways to make something like that sustainable for people. And I think it's a much bigger conversation on the structure of how we have the world.

Yeah, it's true. Hopefully we get down there. Yeah, I don't know. I was talking about the news as well.

And I'm just, like, I've been thinking a lot about it in the cocktail world. It's like, how far can we go and how much can you charge? And what is there left to do? And if like one of the, like the number one in the restaurant in the world is coming to this conclusion on its own, then it's kind of a sexy affair.

Yeah, it definitely sucks. It definitely sucks. I mean, Tony and I, when we started Plattipos, we wanted to have really fun, great drinks and affordable price for people where we still got to be creative and do fun techniques and push the boundaries as much as we could, right? But still also have like a beer and a shot bar at the same time where people didn't feel forced into a menu or with a giant menu of things that you didn't know what to choose from.

Or that, you know, we just have a rotating list that's on the wall, five drinks, and it changes constantly. And then we're also not trying to keep up with things coming in, you know, like produce and available items or differences of costs that can suddenly become really wild if you are chaining yourself to a very particular menu, right? So we decided to do something that's a little bit more fluid and a little bit more creative for our staff as well. So they get a chance to constantly have something on the menu, constantly be able to work on something.

And then people get excited about the menu, they can taste these crazy five drinks or you can just go and get yourself a coffee soda or a beer and a shot. Right. I think that's great. So in kind of space for that.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's where I've kind of landed on it too, is like the smaller coffee list is better. Like you see some of these lists that's just like overwhelming after a while, like the first part that I opened, we made that mistake and was too much going on.

And after a while, people just go like, I'll fucking just give me a beer. That's like too much. Think about that. Yeah.

Okay. So what's next for you? Like, obviously, this bar is still new. It's just a baby.

It's a year old. So you're going to be working on that for a while, but do you have anything else exciting coming up? Yeah, I think I'm just going to be focusing on the bar, for sure. I've, you know, I've got to take care of my health a little bit right now, focus on that.

And I think that I'm going to be ready to roar, just doing, trying to navigate this new territory of being a bar owner, trying to be a mentor for people. I don't even know what that fucking means. I think a good mentor doesn't really know what it means. Like we talked with you like, Lauren Moden on here and people like that where they were like, Lauren Moden was like mentor of the year at Tales of the Cocktail.

And like her, like talking to her about it is, was exactly that. Like, if you, I think if you're like specifically trying to quote unquote be a mentor, then you're fucking it up. Oh man. Yeah.

It's, you know, because just, just care about those people that are right there next to you. That's all I guess you can do. Like, and really try to listen to them. Because, yeah, trying to give advice.

I mean, who the fuck am I to give advice? I fucked up so many things. Sometimes you just like, I don't even know how I got here. I don't know how I got here, but I'm here.

That's why you are the person to give advice. The more you fuck up, the better you know. It's just what the question is these days is the younger generation listening, but it sounds like you got a good crew in your bar. So I mean, here's moments, moments where everybody.

Well, before we just start sounding like old people yelling at clouds, let you go. Thanks for giving us this time. Meredith, it was super fun talking to you. Tell our listeners where they can follow you online or and give the addresses of the bar so they know how to visit you.

Oh, yeah. So platypus is at drink platypus on Instagram. Whiskey Girl Tavern is at Whiskey Girl Tavern on Instagram. I'm at Meredith Berry.

I don't even remember my fucking numbers at Meredith Berry 92517. And I'm also at www.merethberry.com and you can email me there, whatever. And check out the Netflix show one more time. I'm going to plug it is awesome.

And we really appreciate you giving us the time. Meredith, that was a super fun conversation and wish you all the best. Good luck with the bar going forward. And if we ever are able to leave the city again, then we love what I come visit.

Thank you so much. This is a lot of fun. Thank you. Thank you.