Media & Press
Below is a collection of press, including features and reviews from our projects around the country. Scroll to the bottom for cocktail & recipes.
Covid-19 & Bars
The Alcohol Professor: “Cheers to You, America! (But Public Safety Comes First)”
“[Bars] are both cultural and financial institutions,” says Neff. “Bars are Main Street Businesses. If they get boarded up, then people will be afraid to visit that neighborhood. It looks like a ghost town…. People who bought property there will want to move away.”
Associated Press: “As virus roars back, so do signs of a new round of layoffs.”
Aggregated nationally.
ABC-13: “Bar chooses to close after reports of COVID-19 close by”
“No bar is an island,” Neff said. “I can be as safe as I can be and sanitized but if it’s full of people who have gone off and done things in places that aren’t being as responsible, then my risk is very far from zero.”
NBC News: “Houston bar owner slams city, state and ‘selfish’ establishments over COVID-19 spike”
“Michael Neff of The Cottonmouth Club voluntarily closed his bar again amid concerns that staff were being exposed to coronavirus.”
(video)
Features & Articles
“M. Neff Talks Bespoke Cocktails & What Your Favorite Superhero Has To Do With Your Drink”
“I don’t have a Wonder Woman ingredient. But I might wrap it in gold and shoot a bullet at it.”
– The Village Voice
“Meet the Rebels Who Are
Changing the Way We Drink”
“The Holiday just might be the final, gleefully pounded nail in the coffin of cocktail bar formality.”
– Thrillist
“Why an Old Fashioned is the Most Challenging Classic Cocktail”
“In essence, we are garnishing with the world, which means we’re garnishing with ourselves.”
– Food & Wine Magazine
The Cottonmouth Club & Houston
Houston is Neff’s newest city, and the home of his most recent project,
The Cottonmouth Club.
Texas Monthly: “3 Texas Craft Cocktail Bars That Are Stirring Things Up”
“The ambience at this elegantly edgy bar, inside downtown’s historic Brewster Building, oozes decadence and decay—in the best way.”
Houston Chronicle: “Cottonmouth Club Has Clever New Cocktails – and Free Negronis at Happy Hour”
“The Cottonmouth Club’s new cocktail menu is a fine example of a thinking bartender’s grasp of primo libations with a measure of whimsy.”
Houstonia Magazine: “Enjoy Cocktails With a Side of Rock n’ Roll at The Cottonmouth Club”
“Michael Neff pours the Cottonmouth Club’s eponymous cocktail into a rocks glass. Before sliding it over, he pulls a colorful disc from behind the bar and gently drops it over the drink’s foamy-white top. Peering down, we realize it’s an image that pays tribute to Led Zeppelin. Amazing.”
New York Projects
Neff has lived and/or worked in New York for nearly twenty years, where he learned the true value of the neighborhood bar. He’s best known for the following:
Holiday Cocktail Lounge
“An Old Friend Comes Calling”
The Neffs are trying to find a balance between the Holiday’s gritty legacy and an economically viable future. Ms. Sibley says old Holiday regulars inquire about the bar every day. She expects them to return, and the Neff brothers want to meet their needs.
– The New York Times
“Holiday Cocktail Lounge”
Patrons drank house specialties garnished with orange peels, monkeys, and mermaids; old friends exchanged surprised hugs. Danny Neff said that former regulars are recognizable immediately: they look confused but happy. “The first thing we say is ‘Welcome back,’ ” he said.
– The New Yorker
“Dives of Distinction: Cocktail Culture Comes Down to Earth”
Today’s shake-up of drinking habits may be less dramatic, but this new generation of watering holes aims to offer some of the sophistication of contemporary speakeasies without their pretensions.
– The Wall Street Journal
The Rum House
“Step Inside The Birdman Bar”
The Rum House in Times Square, featured in
Academy Award Winning Best Picture, “Birdman”
– The New York Post
“The Rum House Rises”
The bar was a tie to the Rialto of old…a scene out of Runyon,
a simple place for a drink.
– The New York Times
Ward III
“Name Your Potion: Bourbon, Cardamom, Twinkies?”
Before Michael Neff could answer, the man added, “Then make a drink with this.” And slapped it on the bar, in all its spongy glory.
– The New York Times
Los Angeles Projects
While he acts like he owns every bar he’s behind, Neff did not own any bar in LA. That said, he was lucky to be involved in the following:
Clifton’s Cafeteria
“We wanted each space to have its own identity. We have different designs, different intentions, different names, different educational programs.”
– LA Magazine
The Three Clubs
“Where to Drink Martinis Around the Globe”
– Food & Wine Magazine
48 Hours in Los Angeles: What to See, Do & Eat
According to Michael J. Neff
– Forbes
Cocktails
There are too many of these to list, but here is a sampling of featured cocktails from across the years.
Spirits for Cocktails
Epicurious
“Old Bardstown has a pedigree that far outweighs its price” says Neff, who explains that it “delivers body and flavor that is closer to the loftier brands that are made by the same folks.”
Pimm’s Cup #21
Saveur Magazine
Created for Saveur’s 21st Birthday
Can’t Help It If I’m Lucky
Forbes
Created for “Six Valentine’s Day Cocktails You’ll Love”
Stars In My Eyes
Redbook Magazine
Created for “51 Best Cocktails Across America”
Negroni Three Ways #3
LA Magazine
Created for “LA’s 10 Best Variations On The Negroni”
The Martini
Food & Wine Magazine
From “Where to Drink Martinis Around the Globe”
To Find A King Without A Queen
Esquire Magazine
From “This Led Zeppelin Cocktail Celebrates
Robert Plant’s 70th Birthday”