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Colin Williams
Bartender / bar director
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Coming Up
Cocktail work built from kitchen method favors mise en place, sequence, and balance over loose improvisation; That approach carried into work as chef at Saffron NOLA in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, and into drinks writing as writer, Swizzle Stick column at Louisiana Cookin’ (from 2025). Today, Colin is beverage director of The Kingsway.
Where They Are Now
Beverage direction in a dining room has to meet the food rather than compete with it. At The Kingsway, Williams’s cocktails are designed to enhance the dining experience, with the same attention to structure and balance expected from a kitchen. Scotch is one of the bar’s defined lanes in his hands. Golden Hour shows that preference in a specific build: the specialty drink is described as featuring scotch and wok-related ingredients. The Kings Way, another specialty cocktail, sets gin against Asian pear cordial, Cocchi Americano, and dry vermouth. The related Kingsway Cocktail makes the construction more explicit: gin, dry vermouth, Cocchi Americano, Asian pear cordial, orange bitters, and pickled Asian pear. The specification garnish, acidity, bitterness, and base spirit are treated as linked components of the drink, not as separate decoration. Johnny 5 Old Fashioned works from bourbon, Chinese five spice-soy syrup, Angostura bitters, Szechuan pepper-infused orange bitters, and anise. Strawberry Sakura Spritz moves into a lighter register with umeshu, strawberry aperitif, strawberry-infused Mikibito, sakura bitters, and sakura blossom. Pai Gow has two functions at the bar: it is a specialty cocktail option where the bartender surprises the guest, and it also has a defined build of sake-based vermouth, coconut liqueur, verjus, Tom Kha Louisiana rice syrup, Thai green curry tincture, egg whites, and pandan spray. The drink shows the technical side of Williams’s style plainly: layered modifiers, culinary seasoning, and texture handled as part of the recipe rather than as novelty.
Signature
Colin's signature dishes include Golden Hour, The Kings Way, Kingsway Cocktail, Johnny 5 Old Fashioned, and Strawberry Sakura Spritz.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Colin
What is Colin Williams known for?
Applying culinary techniques into cocktails.
