New Birmingham Bar Owner Named National “Bartender of the Year”
Laura Newman, owner of Queen's Park.
Brooklyn native Laura Newman moved to Birmingham in 2017 after she fell in love. The 29-year-old told her boyfriend the move would be temporary, just until she found the perfect city to open a bar. Newman says three months later, she found it.
“I loved it here so much that I actually changed plans and I decided to open a bar here,” she says.
Newman recently became the first woman to win the U.S. Bartenders Guild World Class Competition. She beat almost a dozen bartenders across the nation. This was Newman’s third year competing for the title and she calls it a big win. It proves women can excel in a male-dominated field and do it even better, she says.
Clair McLafferty, author of The Classic & Craft Cocktail Recipe Book and a local bartender, says there are a lot of preconceived notions about what it means to be a woman behind the bar.
“There are a lot of ideas about who behind the bar has knowledge, especially about bourbon and whiskey as a whole.”
McLafferty says it’s a challenge, but women are breaking through those stereotypes. And that fosters deeper relationships with other women behind the bar.
Maggie Hoffman is an author and spirits writer who’s noticed an increase in “star” female bartenders in the US.
“More and more women are beginning to get a little bit of that spotlight now that there are so many star bartenders,” she says. “It’s always been the same group of dudes and more and more women are starting to get that attention.
Janae Pierre,WBHM
Queen’s Park Swizzle
Newman is definitely getting some of that attention these days. She gives cocktail talks across the country, sharing a few recipes that she will use at her bar, Queen’s Park.
“The name originally comes from the Queen’s Park Hotel, which was a grand old hotel in Trinidad and opened at the turn of the 20th century,” she says.
I recently went to Queen’s Park to get a preview. It’s a narrow space with high ceilings, French-style seating and beautiful crystal chandeliers. Newman describes it as a classic bar.
“I’m really excited to be able to offer people in Birmingham awesome classic cocktails that they may not have had before or maybe haven’t even heard of,” she says.
Classics like a Midori Sour or the bar’s signature cocktail: Queen’s Park Swizzle. It’s made with a Spanish sour rum. Newman says cocktails like these are a spectacle.
Creating a classic cocktail takes work but it’s even harder to open a bar. McLafferty, the author and local bartender, says people across the US now notice Birmingham and its thriving food and beverage scene. The concept of Queen’s Park is a risky one. It’s not your average “Jack & Coke” bar, McLafferty says, referring to the popular cocktail. McLafferty calls Queen’s Park a game changer.
“Birmingham itself has the will to sustain new concepts especially when they’re as different as what Laura’s bringing in” she says.
Queen’s Park will have its grand opening Friday: a holiday pop-up bar that runs through the holidays. The Christmas themed pop-up will serve seasonal drinks to get patrons in the holiday spirit.
Experts warn Congress cuts to addiction funding will mean more overdose deaths
A broad coalition of addiction experts wants Congress to maintain healthcare funding for the nation's response to fentanyl and other street drugs.
Chiefs superfan ‘ChiefsAholic’ sentenced to 32 years in Oklahoma prison
A Kansas City Chiefs superfan known as "ChiefsAholic" was sentenced Monday in an Oklahoma courtroom to serve 32 years in state prison for robbing a Tulsa-area bank.
Judge refuses to block IRS from sharing tax data to identify people illegally in U.S.
The decision comes after the acting IRS commissioner resigned over a deal allowing ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification.
Michael Jordan joins NBC as the network revives its NBA coverage
It has been over 20 years since NBC had rights to broadcast NBA games. Its last run was during the 90s, which coincided with Michael Jordan's reign over basketball.
Museum opens in Czech Republic at site where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews
The former textile factory in the town of Brněnec was stolen by the Nazis from its Jewish owners in 1938 and turned into a concentration camp. This weekend it welcomed the first visitors to the Museum of Survivors.
Trump tried to fire Corporation for Public Broadcasting board members. Then came DOGE
DOGE staffers tried to assign a team to the independent Corporation for Public Broadcasting after President Trump's purported firing of three board members last month.
