Mixing it up Following short pandemic-related retirement, veteran bartender back where he belongs By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:53 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 26, 2023

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This article was published 26/09/2023 (1048 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After an extended absence, local cocktail aficionado Josey Krahn is back behind the wood — right where he belongs.

“I’ve definitely gotta knock some of the rust off,” says the managing bartender of Passerby, a new cocktail bar at The Forks. “But it feels really, really, really good to be back.”

Krahn got his start bartending at the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club and carved out a niche for himself in the city’s craft cocktail scene at Deer + Almond and Forth. He was running his own cocktail catering, consulting and education business, called Tiny Bar, when the pandemic hit.

“It was too weird out there to try and pivot to a restaurant, so I transitioned to painting houses,” he says.

Krahn effectively retired from bartending to focus on his longtime side gig. While painting houses solo was a meditative experience, he jumped at the opportunity to get back into the service industry when contacted by The Forks earlier this year.

The goal was to create a high-end, but approachable, cocktail bar inside the intimate space previously occupied by Passero, the Italian eatery owned by Winnipeg chef Scott Bagshaw, which relocated from The Forks market to a standalone restaurant on Corydon Avenue over the summer.

Passerby — a name inspired by the constant flow of people moving through The Forks grounds — is now an extension of the market’s dining hall, with visitors welcome to pair fancy drinks with bites from the bar’s small snack menu or food from other vendors. In the near future, customers will also be able to order cocktails at Passerby to enjoy anywhere in the market, as is the case with drinks purchased from The Common.

While the exposed brick and architectural wood-slat esthetic hasn’t changed, the approach is markedly different.

“It was very much its own space,” Krahn says of the previous delineation between the market and Passero. “And we wanted to try and do a 180 from that, to make it as open as possible.”

Passerby is a pilot project without an end date. Krahn has been given free rein to figure out what works best in the communal space.

“One of the best things about (The Forks) is that there are people here from the lowest bracket of income… to literally the richest people in Winnipeg, and often I see them sitting at the same table, so I really wanted to make sure there was enough on the menu that everybody could enjoy something,” he says.

“People are drinking less but are still interested in having something that’s craft, that requires technique and is something special that you can’t do at home.”–Josey Krahn

A concept that caters to everyone is a challenging creative brief. For Krahn, offering a full slate of non-alcoholic options was an obvious place to start.

“That’s really part of the conversation these days. People are drinking less but are still interested in having something that’s craft, that requires technique and is something special that you can’t do at home,” he says.

Service with a smile is another key component.

“It’s all just things in a glass and being nice to people,” Krahn says.

“It’s the hospitality industry — you’re inviting people in to enjoy the company and the ambiance you provide, and people want to be treated kindly.”

Passerby is open for dine-in service in the evenings and takeout service during the day. The lounge has turned Passero’s former lunch counter into a walk-up bar offering a selection of pre-made mixes and slushes to which spirits can be added.

Krahn is also looking forward to making use of the restaurant’s full kitchen with a series of casual pop-up dining events hosted by local chefs.

“I really want to focus on snacks,” he says. “My favourite bars in the world are the places that have six drinks on the menu and great snacks.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @evawasney