Winning Spirit
Houstonians have felt a sense of collective pride since Alba Huerta won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program for her cocktail bar, Julep. The award, given in mid-June during a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, marked the first time that a Houston establishment brought home a Beard award in a national category, a prestigious recognition in the culinary world.
For Huerta, who was born in Monterrey, in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León, it was recognition not only of her bar, her staff and her work in the industry, but also of the community that welcomed her family from Mexico when she was six.
"Thank you to my city of Houston, Texas, for loving immigrants. For loving immigrants like me, like my family, welcoming us, and giving us the path to opening our own businesses," Huerta said during her acceptance speech.
Huerta is fiercely proud of being a Houstonian. She felt it was important to recognize the city where she grew up, spent most of her years developing as a bartender and opened her thriving bar near downtown that serves classic southern cocktails and unique drinks inspired by Houston and its many immigrant communities.
"Houston is pivotal to Julep's recognition because the bar exists in a place where people, the culinary scene and consumers align to allow us to be creative and accepted all at the same time," says Huerta.
Huerta started bartending at Timberwolf Pub, a neighborhood bar in Houston, when she was just 19. She needed to pay bills and was drawn to the bar’s social element. She fell in love with the job and never stopped. After working several bartending jobs in Houston, she spent time in Las Vegas going to college and learning more about the hospitality industry.
When she returned, Huerta worked for Houston establishments such as Grand Prize Bar and Branch Water Tavern, honing her bartending skills and her interest in and knowledge of spirits. In 2011, she joined Anvil Bar and Refuge, the bar credited with starting the craft cocktail movement in Houston.
Then, in 2013, with the restaurant group The Clumsy Butcher, she opened The Pastry War, the now-closed mezcaleria in downtown Houston. But Huerta had always dreamed of owning her own bar.
On a hot day in August 2014, Julep opened in a historic building on Houston’s Washington Avenue that once housed an 1880s-era uniform factory. Classically decorated with white shiplap, a brass-topped bar and gray leather booths, the bar pays homage to Southern spirits and drinking culture.
The bar quickly garnered a devoted following and earned local and national recognition. In 2015, it landed on Bon Appétit’s list of Top Five New Bars in the United States and, in 2017, Esquire named Julep one the best bars in America. Huerta has also received a multitude of accolades, including being named Imbibe’s Bartender of the Year, along with Bobby Heugel, for her work at The Pastry War, and as one of America’s Greatest Bartenders of 2015 by Thrillist.
At Julep, every cocktail has a story, and its guests get to experience the creativity and care that Huerta and her staff take in making each drink. “To me a cocktail isn’t simply about balance and texture, although these are critical. What really matters is how it makes you feel or what it makes you remember,” Huerta writes in her 2018 book Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned, which the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) named the 2019 Wine, Beer or Spirits Cookbook Award Winner.
Her cocktail menus change seasonally, inspired by ingredients, the evolution of techniques and staff growth. In the early days of the bar, Huerta developed themed historical menus that told the stories and history of the South through cocktails. When she reopened Julep in May 2021, after being closed due the pandemic, she created a menu that highlighted migrant ingredients, such as cardamom and alligator pepper. Her Mexican background also influences her drink recipes.
Take, for example, the Tepache Julep, launched as part of the migrant ingredient menu. Tepache is a Mexican drink made from fermented pineapple rinds and peels. At Julep, a sous vide pineapple wine is combined with tamarind (the highlighted migrant ingredient), mezcal, Maraschino and raspberry.
Huerta also keeps a few house favorites on the menu, such as the popular Cherry Bounce Sour, which has been offered since the bar opened.
To those who have worked with Huerta, her success doesn’t come as a surprise. Pedro Garcia, owner of El Meson, a Spanish and Latin American restaurant in Rice Village, hired Huerta in 2001 to work at his now defunct bar, Twelve Spot. “Working with her was a delight because she has a lot of grace; she’s poised; she’s a hard worker; she quickly led the bar,” Garcia recalls, calling her an excellent businesswoman.
Huerta considers Garcia one of her most important mentors, a restaurateur she admires and looked up to when she was younger and thinking about her future in the industry.
Her parents, Sergio and Maria Alba, have also been an important influence and source of support. “[They] were small business owners and always did what they needed to stay afloat. I recognized those qualities in myself when I opened Julep,” says Huerta.
During the pandemic, which was an extremely difficult time for the hospitality industry, Huerta had to pivot to stay open. She launched the Julep to-go truck, which took her tasty libations directly to Houstonians. For this, too, Huerta earned recognition as an innovator by expanding what a hospitality establishment could be during a time when most people were staying home.
Being a woman in a male-dominated industry is also a source of pride. “One of the biggest hurdles in my industry is the stereotype that bar owners and bartenders should be male. I don’t know if it’s something about the job, the odd hours or the element of alcohol which creates this narrative, but the most effective way to combat it is to always have a voice and continue to work on teams that promote gender balance and diversity,” she says.
Huerta is constantly learning, and she puts a great deal of emphasis on mentoring and training both her staff and others in the industry during her travels around the country. “Cocktail bars require an element of skilled labor,” she explains. “To keep cocktail culture alive, we have to spend time training and teaching the trade.”
"The cocktail movement is what allowed me to stay in the industry and carve out a career that keeps me constantly learning and being creative," says Huerta. That drive has paid off. In August, on the heels of having won a James Beard award and being named the 46th best bar on an inaugural list of North America's 50 Best Bars, Julep celebrated its eighth year in business.
Remembering the moment Julep was named the winning bar at the James Beard Award ceremony still brings a rush of emotions to Huerta. "One of the most beautiful take-aways from this experience has been the sense of pride that our guests have when they are inside the bar,” she says. “The entire community was thrilled, and they celebrated us the moment we opened for business the next day.”
Visit Julep at 1919 Washington Avenue| julephouston.com
