A Home Bar

Back in the company’s early days when we were still just a small team in San Francisco, we came across two young creatives just graduating from school and felt they’d be a perfect fit for our team. They’d already committed to moving to New York City and getting an apartment together, so we agreed to hire them as our NYC team and grow the organization on both coasts.

I went out to meet them when they first arrived and wanted to bring them a housewarming gift to welcome them to the team, and to NYC—and, in a way, to adulthood. This was at the peak of the city’s cocktail revival, so in a giant box, I arranged a complete home bar: a collection of proper cocktail tools, a classic book on cocktail preparation, and good bottles of all the essential spirits and bitters.

The goal wasn’t to supply them with free drinks, but to equip them with what they would need to become good hosts and young adults with good taste on a new adventure in a very big city.

John Poisson

founder and creator of Wantful