Chandler Vanous

Coming Up

In beverage leadership, the work tends to reward systems as much as instinct. Chandler Vanous moved through Marquee on the Landing, Barnetts in Waco, Texas, USA, and True Love in Waco, Texas, USA as beverage director, building a practice around repetition, organization, and close attention to how a room and a list of drinks actually function together. The progression is straightforward: each stop asked for the same title, but not the same problem. That kind of sequence builds a program manager’s habits. In Vanous’s case, it points to a style formed through steady accumulation rather than display: learning spirits, reading service, keeping notes, and shaping the work so the bar can hold a consistent standard from one venue to the next. By the time he reached Copper Spoon, that experience had already turned into a working method.

Where They Are Now

At Copper Spoon in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, the beverage program sits on two priorities Vanous names plainly: spirits knowledge and team building. Those are not abstract values in bar service; they are the mechanics that keep a program coherent. Tastings, notes, and spreadsheets are part of the daily discipline, and the team is the structure that makes that discipline usable on a busy night. House cocktails are the program’s focal point. Vanous describes them as “our sort of crowning jewel,” which puts the emphasis where it belongs: on the finished work that guests see, and on the quieter process that supports it. In that framing, Copper Spoon’s beverage list is not a collection of individual drinks so much as a coordinated system, built through repetition, communication, and control of detail. What comes through in Vanous’s account is the balance required to direct a bar program well. Precision matters, but so does the ability to keep people working together toward the same standard. At Copper Spoon, that means a style of leadership grounded in process, with enough room for the team to make the program feel active rather than rigid.

In Their Words “It sounds like the boring answer, but lots of tastings and notes and spreadsheets, and also just a really great team.” “We do a little bit of everything, but our sort of crowning jewel is the cocktail program for the house cocktails.”

Career - Beverage director — Copper Spoon, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA - Beverage director — Marquee on the Landing - Beverage director — Barnetts, Waco, Texas, USA - Beverage director — True Love, Waco, Texas, USA

Recognition

Chandler Vanous has received The Pinnacle Guide — pin (2025).

FAQ What is Chandler Vanous's current role? As of 2026, Chandler Vanous is Beverage Director. Where did Chandler Vanous work before? Chandler Vanous's earlier career included Marquee on the Landing, Barnetts, and True Love. What recognition has Chandler Vanous received? Pinnacle Guide pin (2025).