Julep – A Bar For the Southerner in Us All
In June, Alba Huerta’s Julep bar in the Heights became the first-ever Texas establishment to win a national James Beard Foundation Award when it won the Outstanding Bar Program category. The James Beard Foundation was started in 1986 to honor the memory of James Beard, a prolific food writer and cookbook author in America. Known as the Oscars of the food world, the annual awards are given in 23 categories, both national and regional. Julep’s award this year was the first national honor for a Texas institution but was followed that same night by Edgar Rico of Austin’s Nixta Taqueria for Emerging Chef.
Quite a feat, but not the only accolade Julep has won, not even for this summer.
“Just days before the Beard awards,” says Huerta, “we were named to the 50 Best Bars in North America list. We are the only Texas bar on the list and it’s an international list of bars and restaurants. It’s really bringing some international travelers here.”
Both Julep and Huerta have won multiple awards, from being named one of the top five bars in the United States by Bon Appétit in 2015 and one of the twenty-four best bars in America by Esquire in 2017, to Huerta’s selection by Food & Wine as one of ten rising-star female mixologists. And Thrillist named her one of the Best Bartenders in America. And the list goes on.
Huerta came from Mexico with her family at the age of five and started working in bars before she could legally drink.
“That’s Texas for you,” she says, “You can serve alcohol at 18 but you can’t drink it.”
Huerta, who is a font of bar history in America — she can trace the history of cocktails from the 1800s through Prohibition and then the resurgence of creative craft drinks in the early 2000s. But she recalls that the bar business was very different when she first started.
“Bartending wasn’t really a career,” she says. “Most people did it to work their way through college, but I loved it and never wanted to leave. It was about the people, about the public space.
“It wasn’t called mixology then it was just pouring drinks. We didn’t even use real juice in cocktails. It wasn’t until about 2010 that we started making real cocktails. It wasn’t cool back then it wasn’t considered a culinary art.”
In 2011 she joined the then revolutionary bar Anvil Bar and Refuge as general manager and just three short years later she opened her own bar, Julep.
The bar is light and airy, with flowers on the tables and a touch of lace. It has a distinctively Southern feel, much like the seasonal cocktail menu Huerta curates, which includes, of course, a list of the bar’s namesake juleps. If you’re looking for a touch of Southern charm in a comfy atmosphere, this is the place to kick back with a stiff drink and some cold oysters. Since opening in 2014 it’s become a neighborhood icon and a must-visit spot for out of towners.
Besides running a bar —and accepting awards — Huerta is passionate about teaching and spreading her love of mixology. She recently lectured at the Aspen Food & Wine Festival and wrote her first cocktail book, Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned, which was also an award winner bringing home an International Association of Culinary Professionals award in the Wine, Beer, and Spirits Category.
But it isn’t just about the awards. In her acceptance speech in Chicago in June for the Beard awards, she expressed her love of her city, saying “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 is known for her passion and love of quality wine, spirits and cocktails and bringing her Southern hospitality to both her bar and her profession.
“If we get an accolade,” she says, “that’s beautiful. But we don’t do it for awards, it’s about the creative mindset. The future is making sure the creative spirit is there. This is a product of love.”
And it’s clear Huerta loves cocktails, and the people who drink them.
Julep
1919 Washington Ave.
julephouston.com