It’s a Woman’s World: Olivia Olsen of ATC South Street

Photo credit: Michael Chiovitti

As a judge for each of the first two years of SoNo1420’s Blaze Whiskey Competition—that’s four rounds total, by the way—one of the best drinks I tasted came from a bartender I hadn’t heard of before, but from a place I’ve not only been to, but wrote about in the past.

Olivia Olsen is the head bartender behind the stick at ATC South Street, Carlos Perez’s hip taqueria in Litchfield.

What stood out about Olivia, not only to me, but to all the judges, was that she thought about every little detail surrounding the drink she created; homemade almond orgeat, she made the blueberry simple syrup, heck, she even “marinated” the blueberry garnish to make it similar to a luxardo cherry, and the glassware…she went out and bought these vintage flowery tiki cups, too.

Aside from all of that, her personality, friendliness, funkiness, and hippie vibe made me, and the judges feel like we knew her for years.

But we don’t. This is where THIS column comes into play.

Here’s a little more about Olivia, her drinks, bartending journey, and what else she’s into.

I met you at SoNo1420’s Blaze Competition. Was that your first time competing? And how did you get into bartending in the first place?

Yes! It was my first competition, it was such an awesome experience getting to compete and having the chance to meet so many people from the Connecticut bar and restaurant world. I found out about the competition from a coworker, and I really try my best to use local brands and products as much as possible behind my bar, so it felt like the perfect fit for my first competition. I'm a fairly recent transplant to Connecticut, and started working at ATC South Street in January, but I've been bartending for about four years, and I've been in the service industry for eight. I served tables for six seasons on Block Island, starting when I was in college, and a few years ago made the transition to bartending I've always been a very creative person, and I love working in restaurants, so bartending gave me the perfect combination of being able to create things, and also having the face time getting to talk to customers and talk through my drink making process, and creating an experience that would be memorable for them.

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You’re the head bartender at our friend, Carlos Perez’s spot, At The Corner South Street. Where were you before that and how did you end up there?

Before South Street, I spent the last three summers at Dead Eye Dick's on Block Island, and the last two winters at Two Villains, a brewery that sadly no longer exists that was located in Nyack, New York. When I moved to Connecticut in January, I knew I wanted to get back behind the bar, I walked into At The Corner with a resume, and needless to say almost a year later I'm still there, slinging margs and other tasty elixirs five days a week.

One thing I noticed about your skills right away is your creativity, and you basically made everything yourself, aside from distilling your own spirits. Where does that all come from?

My background is in art, I have a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, so creativity, and the process of creating something from scratch is always something that I have been interested in and passionate about. I love cooking as well, and many years working in restaurants all around the East Coast means I've had the chance to be exposed to so many different wonderful and interesting flavors. When I approach cocktail making, my process is all about building flavors, and working with how different ingredients compliment and play off of each other. I really love using ingredients in my cocktails that make my customers raise an eyebrow before they take a first taste, a great example of this is actually my competition drink. For the garnish on my competition drink I made some jammy, Luxardo-esque blueberries that utilized balsamic vinegar as an ingredient that brought out the punchy-tartness of the berries, but also brought some depth of flavor to the garnish. I always find homemade components like that to be much better, and often tastier than a store bought alternative, real fruits, real sugars, real ingredients, not just a laundry list of artificial sweeteners and chemicals.

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What can we expect when we sit at YOUR bar at ATC South Street, in terms of vibes and what we might encounter when it comes to cocktails?

'Curating the Vibe' as I lovingly like to call it, is so important to me as a bartender, trying to create a loyal customer base, and providing the temporary escape from reality that a good bar can provide. At South Street you can expect great lighting (low and colorful), fun music, and more often than not, a 24 hour live stream of the otter enclosure from the Monterey Bay Aquarium on at least one of our TV's. Over my time at South Street, I have decorated the bar with so many lovely nick-nacks left behind by bar guests, from a basketball playing card, to an origami paper boat a bar guest folded out of one of our menus. My personal favorite is a Janis Joplin record that is proudly displayed front and center watching over the bar. I think many people underestimate how important it is to create a welcoming environment at the bar, where people really can come for that temporary escape, have a few tasty drinks, eat some awesome food, strike up a conversation, and listen to good music all at the same time. When people sit down with me, I love to have conversations with them about their tastes, what they usually go for in regards to drinks, and work to guide them towards something I know they'll love, or often just create something new, catered to their tastes specifically. We have something on our menu called 'Dealers Choice' which is really where I have my most fun, the customer chooses their base liquor, and tells me a few things about what they like and how they're feeling. I either go into my 'book of potions' as I like to call it, or I come up with something on the spot to best fit their needs. I have a few really amazing and loyal customers who just come in and ask me 'What kind of experiments do you have going on back there today?' and they end up with drinks that have everything from beet juice to black pepper syrup.

I saw that you also sell vintage clothing. Tell us about that (and how we can shop your closet) and anything else you’re into.

I have always been a lover and collector of old things, when you stop by the bar you may notice that our drink glasses don't match, they've been collected from yard sales, at Goodwill, and rescued and given a new life behind the bar in Litchfield. I similarly have a love for clothing in that way. I sell vintage things that I have gathered over the years in my travels, mostly on my Instagram @DustDevilVintage and I also have a few items on my Depop, under the same name. I am, admittedly, not very good at keeping my hands still, so when I'm not behind the bar you can often find me making jewelry, collaging, crocheting, or doing tie-dye. Being creative and making things for myself and others is such an important part of my life, and I am so lucky that through bartending I get to meet so many people, exchanging stories and ideas, and I get to give them a little piece of myself and who I am when I serve them a drink.

Follow Olivia on Instagram @olivia0lsen
And go sit at her bar at ATC South Street