Manny Gomez is shaking up KC’s cocktail scene—literally and figuratively.
Over the past decade, while many notable local mixologists were earning their stripes at KC’s cutting-edge speakeasies like Swordfish Tom’s and the late Manifesto (Jay Sanders of Wild Child and Bryan Arri of Fern Bar come to mind), Gomez was trying to break into KC’s cocktail scene at dive bars and restaurants like Mi Ranchito and Longhorn Steakhouse. Now the bar chef at the Crossroads’ swanky, cool hotel bar Le Lounge and the owner of a thriving cocktail consulting business and pop-up, the Guadalajara, Mexico native has undoubtedly hit his stride.
“I never had a mentor,” Gomez says. “I felt like I was kind of missing out because I wasn’t working at these high-elevated craft cocktail bars. But I wanted to be part of that, so I did it by myself. I think that’s what has propelled me to where I’m at now, and I feel really good that it was kinda ‘self-made.’”
You may have had one of Gomez’s cocktails while dining at the Plaza’s Mexican fine dining restaurant T’ähä. Kohinoor, a soon-to-be-open Latin cocktail bar in downtown KC, will debut a menu entirely created by Gomez, and if you pop by Le Lounge, you can try Gomez’s Guest of Honor cocktail, infused with blackberries and a balsamic vinaigrette—it was inspired by a blackberry goat cheese salad he had while dining with his grandma in Puerto Vallarta.
But before he was infusing tequilas with rose tea and pressurizing palomas (he says doing this gives them an ultra-fizzy texture and makes for one hell of a summer drink), Gomez looks back fondly at his humble start.
It all began while working as a line cook at Longhorn Steakhouse. Intrigued by the bar side of operations, Gomez began bar backing and bartending two days a week. He says it felt similar to cooking, but in liquid form. Gomez continued to bartend at dive bars to make ends meet while pursuing his financial degree, but his big break into mixology came about while working as the general manager for Novel in the Crossroads. The restaurant had previously been focused on wines to pair with its more fine and delicate style of food, but Gomez took it upon himself to create Novel’s cocktail program, with a focus on spirits from his home country.
“I thought, ‘If I don’t do this by myself, I’m not gonna make it,” Gomez says. “So I read a lot. I traveled. I failed a bunch of times until I finally made something cool.”
Gomez has broken into the scene, and now he’s focused on giving back. His cocktail pop-up Jade Jaguar includes an educational seminar for aspiring mixologists. Gomez and his pop-up co-owner Seth Goldwasser, the beverage director at The Town Co., provide a tasting focused on agave spirits. After the seminar, Jade Jaguar offers a small menu of six to eight cocktails, which serves as an example of how agave spirits can be implemented into drinks.
“I want KC bartenders to be better,” Gomez says. “I want the service industry to be leveled up, and I feel like when you provide those tools to the bartenders, they’re going to be better. If we all are better, it’s better for everyone.”
Manny Gomez’s Perfect Day in KC
Fresh Start: I wake up, take a lap around the River Market with my dogs and pick up some fresh produce from Cristina’s Produce. They’re awesome. They have boxes of strawberries for like a dollar. Maybe I’ll make a little fruit salad.
Caffeine Fix: Café Ollama. I think that’s my favorite place to sit down real quick for a coffee. I’m getting the Mexico City Smog.
Fine Dining: The Antler Room is one of those places that I go once or twice a year for those special moments. We’ll get dressed up and have a beautiful bottle of wine with some fresh pasta. They’re really killing it over there.
Drink of Choice: I make so many craft cocktails every day, but I barely drink them. Plus, I’m a huge city rat, so I’m having a bucket of Modelas surrounded by my best Latino brothers with a shot of Jameson at the Blue Line Hockey Bar.
