DC's Kapri Robinson Named one of Eater's New Guard for 2021
/
Kapri Robinson. Photo by Jennifer Chase. “I help create doors and opportunities in the educational field for people of color and Black people in the industry. This is a very huge point for me.” - Eater
Eater announced their 2021 New Guard Awards, 11 leaders in food who want to “use food” to “challenge conventions and make a positive change in their community. Kapri Robinson was one of those winners.
Edible DC Profile of Kapri Robinson | Summer 2019
DC mixologist, Kapri Robinson, founds Chocolate City’s Best to showcase the work and talents of a diverse community of mixologists
By Susan Able, photography by Jennifer Chase
Kapri Robinson is a woman on the move. She loves shaking things up—literally: As a bartender at some of DC’s top spots, she mixed, swirled and muddled her way to being a mixologist with a good reputation. But she also found time to shake things up among the established industry groups and founded Chocolate City’s Best, a cocktail competition that got off to a rousing start last year.
“I wanted to create a platform for people of color in the food and beverage world to provide opportunities for networking and a place to showcase our work. I went to what is the premier event in our industry, Tales of the Cocktail, an annual cocktail festival held in New Orleans. I didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me. I thought ‘Why is this?’ We should all be participating in national competitions hosted by major brands. It’s a career booster and a way to grow, but at this event and others which I attended, it really wasn’t a diverse group. Which led me to think about the idea of an event in DC that would pull in people of color and open doors for everyone who may feel like an outsider to the industry’s mainstream.”
A native of Georgia, Robinson moved to DC in 2011 to attend Howard University and started bartending part-time in 2013 at Farmers Fishers Bakers. It was her first exposure to craft bartending and she fell in love.
“Honestly, for me bartending was like school. I was creating and learning—being a bartender requires you to use core academics—math, science, English, social studies and history. There is a lot of history behind making cocktails. And I found, for me, bartending was a good work-life—fun, good people, interesting events, and I enjoy being part of DC’s entertainment life,” Robinson said.
“Other bartenders helped teach me, I gained confidence and skills, and then I learned the ropes about networking and that was that, I was off and running.” Robinson now bartends at Petworth’s Reliable Tavern and is also the local representative for Santa Teresa 1796 Venezuelan rum, helping market the brand through events and trainings.
Who has inspired her? Robinson has a ready answer: “Torrence Swain, now representing Silencio Mezcal; he is well-known in town from his work at Bourbon Steak and Farmers Fishers Bakers. Carlos Piava at Service Bar; he made sure I was always learning. Five years ago, there weren’t many women of color leading bar programs but Felicia Colbert and Naderia Wynn—they felt like they were in the DC industry inner circle. In terms of people of color, it was mostly black men—but that has definitely changed. You’ve got Andra “AJ” Johnson, Lauren Paylor at The Colony Club and Earlecia Richelle, the national St-Germain ambassador. I’ve now connected with so many women of color in the industry. We’re showing our faces.”
Inspired by her experience at Tales of the Cocktail, Robinson got to work on honing her ideas and in 2018 launched the idea of a local competition. Like all new ideas, it took time for her to connect with allies and partners.
Robinson said with a laugh, “Starting anything new, untested—people are busy and they want to really understand what you are trying to do. It was a challenge at first, asking around for help and advice. The support was slow. But when I started doing Instagram marketing and other public relations, I got people’s attention and it quickly became, ‘Oh, now she’s really going—what can I do to help?’ And now it was a real thing happening, and it came together.”
Chocolate City’s Best competition launched last September at Big Chief in Ivy City to a large crowd. Private events bartender Denaya Jones won the main competition with her cocktail Black Sheep, a drink she created using Santa Teresa 1796 rum, Amaro liqueur, Cabernet Sauvignon wine, Yuzu bitters and orange peel.
Chocolate City’s Best competition will take place again this year on the last weekend in September.
What’s next? Now that it has become an annual affair in DC, Robinson hopes that Chocolate City’s Best will become one of the bigger competitions in the nation in the next three years and make a huge splash in her industry. “I hope it will turn into an organization that uplifts and helps people of color form and push their career to new levels,” she said. “You need to have your eyes opened to the opportunities in this industry. I have big goals. I want people to be talking about this.”
