Imbibe 75 Person to Watch: Alicia Perry
Awe comes easy while visiting any property from CH Projects. The San Diego hospitality group is famed for mid-century fever dream the Lafayette Hotel and art deco steakhouse Born & Raised. The transportive settings are underpinned by immersive drink experiences like tableside Martini service or flaming tropical punches. The unifying ingredient on every menu is Alicia Perry, the hands-on beverage co-director for CH Projects’ 20-plus concepts. “I experience the space myself as a guest before I conceptualize a menu,” Perry says. “It’s helped me better understand what a guest genuinely wants.”
Perry’s behavioral insights stem from her first profession as a social worker. She had counseled parents of cancer-stricken children and helped the homeless with health care needs. By night, Perry tended bar at Polite Provisions, pairing cold cocktails with warm service. When offered the general manager role, she left social work with one proviso: “I wanted to establish and develop our own philanthropic values and give back to communities,” Perry says. As the beverage director, Perry leans on her background to connect with and support coworkers, in addition to leading industry seminars on prioritizing mental and physical well-being.
When she’s not quality-testing classic cocktails at CH Projects listening bar Part Time Lover, or discovering hip-hop artists such as Indonesian rapper Rich Brian, Perry is busy fine-tuning the beverage lists for Baby Grand. The soon-to-open CH Projects hotel in seaside Coronado is envisioned as a glamorous jungle camp. Inside, there’s wood-fired Greek restaurant Night Hawk, where cocktails will lean on olive oil, wild herbs, and smoke, and the Fallen Empire raw bar that treats Champagne as a culinary punctuation. Krug will accompany Kumamoto oysters, Clos Cazals with scallop crudo, each pairing fed by Perry’s sensibilities and sensitivities. Not consuming alcohol? Here’s something celebratory to sip, too. “We’re creating spaces that are inviting to everyone,” Perry says.
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