Beyond the Recipe: Owen Gibler on Process, Creativity, and Building Sustainable Bar Programs
The best bartenders don't just make drinks—they build systems. They think in processes, not just products. They understand that a great cocktail program requires equal parts chemistry, creativity, and cold-hard business sense. Owen Gibler, beverage director at Nashville's Roze Pony and architect of acclaimed programs from New York to Hong Kong, embodies this holistic approach to hospitality.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Gibler shared insights that go far beyond mixing techniques or ingredient lists. His philosophy reveals what it takes to build bar programs that are simultaneously creative, profitable, and sustainable—a balance that eludes many operators in today's competitive landscape.
The Process Over Product Mindset
When asked about his approach to creativity, Gibler's answer was immediate and telling: "I'm always considerably more interested in process, right?"
He illustrates this with a simple thought experiment about cooking a steak. "If they say, we use cumin. And I'm like, okay, yeah, cumin's cool, but like, do you throw it on a grill or is it a flat top? Do you sous vide it? Do you rest it? And they're like, cumin? I'm like, no, man, I'm not asking for the secret ingredient. There is no secret ingredient. What's your process to get whatever?"
This mindset shapes everything Gibler does behind the bar. Rather than chasing obscure amari or rare ingredients to differentiate his programs, he focuses on understanding and perfecting processes—from juice clarification to acid adjustment to building layered cordial systems. The goal isn't just to create one exceptional drink, but to develop replicable methods that elevate an entire program.
"A lot of drinks that I've made weren't actually looking for the drink itself necessarily, but more trying to understand a process," he explains. This approach has led him deep into the science of flavor creation, working with eight different acids to build what he calls "fantasy flavors"—balanced, complex tastes that feel organic even when they don't directly mimic a specific fruit.
The Economics of Elevated Bartending
Gibler brings an unusually transparent perspective to the financial realities of running a bar program. He doesn't shy away from discussing cost percentages, labor efficiency, or the hard truth that "half of your time is HR" on bad months.
His approach to pricing reveals sophisticated thinking about menu engineering. Rather than applying a blanket cost percentage, he strategically prices drinks based on projected volume. "I always game out a percentage of my menu somewhere between 18 and 20 cost and another percentage 21 to 23," he says, then carefully considers which drinks will move fastest based on menu placement, ingredient recognition, and description.
This isn't about maximizing profit on every pour—it's about understanding the system as a whole. High-volume drinks need better margins. Premium bottles require different markup strategies. And throughout it all, Gibler acknowledges the inevitable shrinkage, waste, and the occasional drink given away to regulars. "I just want them to be understood," he says of these realities.
His labor management philosophy is equally pragmatic. At Roze Pony, they've built systems that stack tasks efficiently throughout the day. When making cordials, bartenders first peel limes to extract oils, then juice the remaining fruit, then dehydrate the leftover shells for garnishes. "You start stacking these things," Gibler notes. What begins as a zero-waste exercise quickly becomes a significant cost savings.
But he's also realistic about labor costs varying by market. When discussing a Seattle coffee shop client facing $20/hour minimum wage, he acknowledges, "You just have to have a really tight, efficient operation." The goal isn't to outrun the bear—it's to outrun the bar next door.
The Super Juice Debate and Beyond
Gibler has strong opinions about the super juice movement—the practice of using citric and malic acids with water to replicate fresh citrus juice. While he appreciates the innovation, he believes the standard approach doesn't go far enough.
"I feel it because it's kind of the same thing: it is the main points and the pH is the right thing, but it doesn't have that natural feel to it," he explains. His solution? Use up to eight different acids and blend them with other natural ingredients to create more complex, authentic-tasting cordials.
Drawing on perfumery and flavor science, Gibler understands that any natural flavor comprises dozens of compounds. "If you have just cinnamaldehyde, which they have found out how to synthetically recreate, you have like big red chewing gum," he explains. "But if you don't have the other dozen or so... it no longer has a natural feel."
This depth of knowledge doesn't come from formal chemistry training—Gibler describes himself as "probably just knowledgeable enough to be dangerous." But it reflects hundreds of hours of research, experimentation, and yes, failure. His home setup includes thousands of dollars in specialized equipment for R&D on his upcoming downtown Nashville bar.
Still, he's cautious about sharing too much technical information. "Not all doors need to be opened for everyone," he says, worried about bartenders lacking proper context attempting advanced techniques. It's a reminder that knowledge without understanding of proper application and safety considerations can be genuinely dangerous.
Menu Engineering: Art Meets Science
How does Gibler approach building a menu that's both creative and commercially viable? It starts with understanding the audience.
"It is understanding the audience that you have," he emphasizes. A cocktail-forward destination can take more risks than a neighborhood spot where drinks are secondary to dinner. At Roze Pony, which operates 15 hours a day serving everyone from morning coffee drinkers to evening cocktail enthusiasts, the menu must work across multiple contexts.
His strategy involves creating ingredients that serve multiple purposes. A cordial might appear in evening cocktails, become a soda with sparkling water for daytime service, or transform into a hot toddy when combined with fresh-pressed apple juice and steamed. This cross-utilization extends shelf life, reduces waste, and allows bartenders to learn fewer recipes while serving more diverse needs.
Menu language matters enormously. Gibler has learned to hide the complexity of what he's doing because guests "would get bogged down trying to figure out what thing just nerd shit is when it doesn't really matter." They don't care if juice is clarified or how acids are balanced—they care if the drink tastes good.
He's also strategic about what he calls "burying" drinks on the menu. Stirred cocktails, which attract more experienced drinkers who often know exactly what they want, go toward the bottom. The top of the menu features accessible, crowd-pleasing options with straightforward names and recognizable ingredients. Rose Pony's best-seller? The Pretty Pony—a vodka French 75 with strawberry. Simple, understandable, and deliberately positioned to move volume.
"There's arguments that you should only have like five things on a menu and maybe just on the first page," Gibler notes. While Rose Pony's neighborhood positioning allows for more options, he knows that menu length, placement, naming, and description all impact sales—sometimes more than the drink's actual quality.
Building Culture Through People, Not Systems
Perhaps most revealing is Gibler's approach to staff development. Unlike many operators who rely heavily on checklists and standard operating procedures, he takes a more philosophical approach.
"I hate checklists, closing lists, open lists, prep things written out," he admits. "Because if you create rules, you create a game and people will play that game as opposed to just knowing what needs to be done."
His goal is to hire people who embody the bar's values rather than those who merely follow instructions. This requires intensive training and patience with mistakes, but results in staff who make good decisions based on understanding rather than rote memorization.
"If I can get them to make the right decisions based on information... that takes longer to do. But once they do it, they'll make the right decisions based on information," he explains. This approach particularly matters in dynamic environments where conditions constantly change.
The philosophy extends to turnover. Gibler proudly notes that his bars—from Mother's Ruin in New York to Employees Only locations across Asia—retain staff for years. "We try and be good to people and treat them like people and respect who they are and encourage the same and it kind of works out."
His preferred hiring pipeline? From within. Starting someone as a food runner or barback, teaching them latte art, gradually moving them to day shifts, then training them on cocktails creates staff who deeply understand the culture. "People spending more time in that are just going to intrinsically know that more."
The Cautionary Tale of Tips and Capitalism
Having worked in both tipping and non-tipping cultures, Gibler offers nuanced observations on how compensation structures shape bar culture. In Asia, where tipping isn't standard, he found "the true believers—the people that are there want to be there." But without financial incentives tied to volume, service often slowed dramatically.
Conversely, non-pooled tipping systems in the U.S. can bring out negative behaviors. "People are not genuinely involved. They've only tried to find the most efficient way to get the dollar out of it. They're producing widgets and they've got like an extraction process."
His solution at Roze Pony? A pooled house system that balances individual motivation with team cohesion. It's an approach he believes helped American bartenders develop the aggressive excellence that made U.S. cocktail culture world-leading. "I think Americans wouldn't have created the best bars if they weren't financially incentivized to continually get better at it."
But he also wonders if there's a better equilibrium ahead: "Perhaps it is better if you have less seats in a place and more true believers and less money involved. I don't know."
Continuous Growth or Die
When asked about creativity, Gibler quotes San Diego bartender Eric Castro: "As soon as you stop moving forward, you don't die. Like, you're fine for a while, but slowly, eventually, no matter what, you will be replaced by people who are continually moving forward."
This philosophy drives Gibler's constant experimentation. Every six months, he feels like he's "cracked the new thing" and become "significantly better than I was personally six months beforehand." Yet he's humble enough to recognize: "Maybe I don't know anything currently, but I do think I have it figured out now."
It's this combination—relentless forward momentum tempered by self-awareness—that defines his approach. He's not afraid to fail (he freely admits to many terrible attempts with centrifuges and syrups). He's not precious about his knowledge (he'll happily share recipes and techniques). And he's not stuck in the past (even as someone who worked at legendary spots like Violet Hour and Mother's Ruin).
"The thing that gets in the way of my work is work," he jokes, referring to the operational demands of running a bar. But given the opportunity, he'd spend all his time on creative R&D, constantly pushing toward the next discovery.
Looking Forward
Gibler is currently developing a new downtown Nashville bar set to open in early 2026. Located in the historic Arcade building, it will feature mid-century design, a reel-to-reel analog music system, and "much deeper thought on ratios of stuff... more thoughtful stuff as opposed to like just potato everything."
The location presents challenges—proximity to Broadway's tourist crowds means navigating very different expectations than at Rose Pony. But it also represents an opportunity to bring elevated cocktail culture to a broader audience.
Whether the bar achieves international recognition (Gibler jokes about the difficulty of making the World's 50 Best Bars list from Nashville) matters less than the approach he's taking: process-driven creativity, economic sustainability, and genuine care for both staff and guests.
The Takeaway
Owen Gibler's philosophy offers a roadmap for anyone trying to build a serious bar program in today's market. It requires:
Process thinking over ingredient fetishization
Economic realism balanced with creative ambition
Deep knowledge of flavor science and technique
Strategic menu engineering that acknowledges guest behavior
People development that goes beyond checklists
Continuous learning and willingness to fail
Adaptation to local market realities
Most importantly, it requires patience. The first three to six months of any new bar are "horrible trash," as Gibler puts it. Building the systems, training the staff, and fine-tuning the operations takes time. But done right, it creates programs that can sustain themselves for years—providing excellent guest experiences while maintaining profitability and supporting the people who make it all happen.
That's the real recipe for success: not a secret ingredient, but a commitment to understanding process, respecting economics, and never stopping the pursuit of better.