The Return of Ticonderoga Club
“Turn the light out, say goodnight. No thinking for a little while.”
“The Club Is Dead. Long Live the Club.”
As if surviving the forced closures and adapting to limited service models due to the pandemic wasn’t enough for many of our beloved bars, on the night of December 19, 2022 the award-winning, trailblazing Atlanta bar Ticonderoga Club suffered a water pipe rupture that destroyed their kitchen, upstairs space, and their front dining area, wreaking havoc on their plumbing and electric systems, forcing them to close for four months.
But now there’s reason to raise a glass of Hootchy Cider Punch as earlier this month they reopened their doors with the motto, “The Club Is Dead. Long Live the Club.” Ticonderoga Club partner Paul Calvert told Eater Atlanta: “We’re even more Ticonderoga Club than ever before. We’ve taken everything we’ve ever done really well here since opening seven years ago and distilled it into the best possible version of the Club. We’ve doubled down on who and what we are and our vibe.”
The last time I was in Atlanta was October 2019 for a book tour stop for Last Call. Kimball House hosted a ticketed cocktail party in their private room where I was in conversation with Miles Macquarrie (a partner and Beverage Director of Kimball House), Gary Crunkleton (owner of The Crunkleton in Chapel Hill and Charlotte), and Greg Best (one of the partners of Ticonderoga Club) and then the party spilled out to their grand bar for oyster towers, cocktails, and continued revelry late into the night.
I’ve known Greg for years, often running into him during the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi, and on occasion here in New York. I was thrilled when he agreed to be a part of Last Call and the book’s photographer, Ed Anderson, and I paid a visit to Ticonderoga Club in the summer of 2018 on stop nine of an ambitious (and exhausting) 12-city barnstorm that started in Brooklyn and wrapped up in Memphis. Greg invited us to come by the bar before service and gave us a thorough tour of the operation, from their unique artwork and cheeky Easter eggs hidden throughout, to their philosophy on food and drink. The through line of Last Call was chronicling bars across America after dark and asking bartenders what their last drink would be and I continued asking questions as Ed photographed Greg at work and making his final drink (more on that below).
Greg is a fantastic interview subject—sharp, engaging, generous—and looking back at the profile of Ticonderoga Club from the book and considering their recent rebirth, this sentiment on longevity and legacy stands out:
“Like all old bars, we wanted to build a relic that would be here, or somewhere, long after all of us were dirt—whether it’s still here operating or in a collector’s house or in a museum.”
On the occasion of their reopening, I wanted to share the Ticonderoga Club excerpt from Last Call along with Greg Best’s final drink. Cheers.
