Who Gets to Own a Cocktail Recipe?

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When Los Angeles’ Sqirl announced that it would be offering dinner service, the restaurant found itself in the national public eye once again. Some took the launch as an opportunity to rehash Sqirl’s scandalous past, including the controversy around unacknowledged staff contributions; at the time, former employees alleged that owner Jessica Koslow was taking credit for recipes they developed.

Recipe crediting is a thorny topic for restaurants. In an interview with Eater senior reporter Bettina Makalintal, Amanda Cohen, owner of Dirt Candy, shared why she chose to attribute dishes to their respective creators by name: “I certainly know there has been a movement to give more credit to staff over the last couple of years and I think it’s great—it takes an army to run a restaurant.”

But four years later, it’s still rare to see names listed on menus. Sqirl, for its part, has not printed credits alongside dishes, though it has been highlighting staff who worked on the food on the restaurant’s social media. At bars, however, crediting has become increasingly common practice. See, for example, menus from Cure in New Orleans, DrinkWell in Austin, or Better Luck Tomorrow in Houston. Should restaurants follow suit?

Cocktail recipes are often meant to be recreated and riffed on; Punch’s archive is a testament to the merits of sharing how signature drinks get made. But ownership is another thing. Who gets to claim a recipe, and who gets recognition for it? I chatted with two bars who’ve found that naming cocktail creators on menus helps the staff, operators, and guests alike to see why they do it and why it matters.