Lu Brow: 5 things I can't live without

A bar chef for Café Adelaide and the Swizzle Stick Bar in New Orleans, Lu Brow also serves as executive bar chef of the Commander’s Family of Restaurants. She was among the first to embrace the idea that fresh ingredients chefs use in the kitchen should also be used for making cocktails. Brow extended it even further by creating a Bar Chef Table where patrons enjoy a specially crafted dinner menu that is paired, course-by-course, with cocktails she serves in tasting-sized glasses. Restaurant Hospitality was so impressed by Brow’s talent, that it named her a Rising Star in 2007.

1. Bitters. Whether handmade or store bought, bitters add complexity and flavor to cocktails, sodas and even ice cream. It’s a component that rounds out a cocktail and brings flavors to a beautiful finish.

2. Sunbeam electric juicer. Where would I (or my staff be) without an electric juicer? I always thought hand juicing would firm up my upper arms, but that didn’t work. The amount of time saved with a well-made juicer will pay for itself many, many, times over when compared to the labor dollars spent using a hand juicer. Make that investment, make your team happy and put out a great cocktail.

3. OXO plastic jigger. It allows you to measure ingredients so quickly and is large enough to combine more than one ingredient. I love them so much I bought the measuring cups for home!

4. Dale DeGroff’s The Craft of the Cocktail and The Essential Cocktail. Both books are perfect for the novice bartender or a skilled bartender to use as a reference guide. Everything from cutting fruit properly to shaking a cocktail properly can be found in both of these books. Dale is a master of his craft and one of the nicest gentlemen I’ve ever met.

5. Timberland clogs. I’m going to sound really old and decrepit, but I couldn’t work these long hours without my Timberland clogs. I started wearing them about a year ago and they fit me perfectly and keep the leg/feet fatigue down to a minimum. Guests always comment that I make my living with my hands, but the real fact is that you make it with your feet! I’m always on them!