ADAM HODAK
If you are a fan of top-flight adult beverages in Denver, you might be familiar with the work of Adam Hodak.
Hodak heads the beverage program at , a popular LoDo watering hole whose crowds come for the artfully rendered drinks and too-cool-for-school vibe.
At 30, Hodak is younger than some of the single-malt whiskeys he pours. But that hasn’t stopped him from being a leader in the city’s burgeoning craft cocktail movement.
The Ohio native moved here after graduating with a business degree from Wittenberg University in his home state. He soon went to work for chef-restaurateur Frank Bonanno at , before moving to Green Russell.
A fit 6-foot-3, Hodak was an outstanding schoolboy athlete and played college soccer. He enjoys traveling and hiking with his girlfriend, artist Amber Fagan.
GREEN RUSSELL
This bar at the bottom of a stairwell at 1422 Larimer St. feels like a vintage speakeasy, the sort of place where you might knock on the door and tell the guy at the peephole that Jimmy the Gent sent you.
You enter the bar by passing through , its sister restaurant, then going through a swinging door marked “No Entry.”
Before you lies a dark room with cozy tables and comfy red leatherette seats. On the bar are cut-glass beakers, all manner of drink-specific glassware, and .
Opened in November 2010, it’s a tippler’s heaven, a place for sipping, not swigging.
Q. How did you get into the cocktail business?
A. I started in college as a way to make money. There were two bars and I was lucky enough to get hired at one of them.
Q. What’s the future of the current cocktail renaissance? Will there be a backlash and a return to basics, or is the genie out of the bottle?
A. It hasn’t reached the saturation point yet. There’s craft to it, so it won’t be like the martini craze in the 1990s, because there’s nothing kitschy about something made properly.
Q. Are bartenders the new rock stars?
A. There’s a lot of personality that goes into the job. You’re so connected to guests you do feel like you’re on stage. People come to see you and they pay for that, but they ultimately come for the experience and the drinks. You’re serving them, so there’s no room to be a prima donna.
Q. Is there a cocktail your customers love but you can’t abide?
A. Dirty martinis. I love olives and salty things, but I just can’t stomach drinking brine.
Q. What’s the oddest customer request you’ve had?
A. It was a stupid bachelorette thing: “Show me your chest hair.”
Q. What is your greatest fear?
A. Not enjoying life.
Q. What is your current state of mind?
A. Better than average, although my grandpa just passed a few months ago. He’s the first person in my life I was close to who has died.
Q. Who do you most admire?
A. It was my grandpa. I had lunch with him four days before he died. He was absolutely kind to everyone. And he never forgot a name. My god, I do not have that quality.
Q. Who has been the greatest influence on you?
A. My granddad and parents. But I’ve met a lot of people in my life, and I feel like anyone who I’ve ever gotten close to has left some impact on me.
Q. What’s your favorite way of spending time?
A. With my girlfriend, just taking it easy.
Q. What is your most treasured possession?
A. My relationship with my family and loved ones.
Q. When and where were you happiest?
A. I can honestly say I don’t know if I’ve been happier than where I am right now. I’m doing what I’ve always aimed for. I’ve had some wonderful and surreal moments, but surreal moments don’t encapsulate true happiness.
Q. What trait do you most dislike in yourself?
A. My competitiveness.
Q. What trait do you most dislike in others?
A. I could say being judgmental, but that would just be ironic.
Q. What is your greatest extravagance?
A. Eating and drinking.
Q. What is your favorite journey?
A. Ultimately I feel I’m on my favorite journey. I look at life as a journey. Though I do love traveling in Europe.
Q. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
A. My long hair. I know that sounds funny. But I’m growing it out so I can cut it and donate it to , which is an organization that provides wigs for kids who have lost their hair because of medical problems. But I have to grow it out a little longer.
Q. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
A. All virtues are overrated if you take them to absolutes.
Q. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
A. “Absolutely.” And “fair enough.”
Q. What do you feel is your greatest achievement?
A. The honest belief that better things are to come. I’m a very optimistic person.
Q. Where would you like to live?
A. Here and in Manhattan. Every time you visit New York you fall more and more in love with it. And it would make my girlfriend the happiest person in the world. That means a lot.
Q. What quality do you most admire in a man?
A. Chivalry.
Q. And in a woman?
A. Independence and strength.
Q. What do you value most in your friends?
A. Loyalty. And a laid-back attitude.
Q. How would you like to die?
A. Old and peaceful. Jumping out of an airplane at age 99 and having a heart attack? Nah. While I’m dreaming.
Q. If you were to be reincarnated, what would you like to be?
A. I’d like to come back as a planet. If the universe is constantly expanding, that could be fun. You could live for a couple of billion years.
Q. What is your motto?
A. It will all be OK.
William Porter: 303-954-1877 or wporter@denverpost.com
