Bill Russell-Shapiro, Proprietor
Jamie Lauren, Executive Chef
Eric Vreede, Development and Operations Manager/Wine Director
Jeff Hollinger , General Manager




Jeff Hollinger, Manager

Jeff Hollinger, Manager, has been interested in food and drink for as long as he can remember. As a child he would inevitably order either the most expensive or atypical menu item when out for dinner with his family. While visiting his grandfather's bar, Hollinger immediately found his way behind the modest bar to engage in a game of 'bartender' with his cousins, where he quickly mastered the art of creating a delicious Shirley Temple over freshly crushed ice. Growing up around the corner from a bartending school, Hollinger frequently passed the school on his walks home and curiously gazed at the bottles lining the bar, with boyhood dreams of going there one day.

After receiving a degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University in 1997, Hollinger worked for several years as a private tutor at a learning center in Los Altos; during his time he considered getting his teaching credentials to pursue a full time teaching career. Instead, Hollinger enrolled in classes at the California Culinary Academy and found himself on a path that would enable him to pursue and nurture his life-long love affair with gourmet cuisine and drinks.

While at the Culinary Academy, Hollinger tended bar and worked in the kitchen of Gordon's House of Fine Eats. When Gordon's closed in January of 2003, Hollinger joined the Absinthe Brasserie & Bar team as a part-time bartender. Once behind the Absinthe bar, he enhanced Absinthe's classically driven cocktail philosophy by introducing new cocktail concepts he had learned from Gordon's using seasonal fresh ingredients and balancing flavors. Hollinger proceeded to study the history of cocktail "culture," began collecting old cocktail books, and together with then-Bar Manager, Rob Schwartz, experimented with both old and new ingredients, developing new cocktail recipes and resurrecting forgotten classics.

It was during this time, late 2003, when Hollinger and Schwartz came up with the idea of The Art of the Bar, an innovative cocktail book that would illustrate Absinthe's cocktail philosophy and provide readers with the necessary information to recreate the Absinthe cocktail experience at home. With the unwavering support of Absinthe's owner, Billy Russell-Shapiro, and after two years of collaborative efforts, The Art of the Bar was published and launched in November of 2006.

After a year of tending bar at Absinthe, Hollinger took over Schwartz' position as Bar Manager, During this time, he worked to maintain the integrity of a cocktail and spirits program that had, since 1998, defined itself as being the premier in San Francisco. He encouraged his fellow bartenders to contribute to the cocktail list, and continued to look for inspiration for his own cocktails, pulling from historic drink books, favorite culinary dishes and seasonal ingredients he found at local farmers markets.

Hollinger's tenure as a bar manager was relatively short lived, as he was quickly promoted to Assistant General Manager. Although he was no longer behind the bar, Jeff always maintained oversight of Absinthe's bar and cocktail program. He worked closely with Bar Manager Jonny Raglin, and together they expanded the cocktail program, and developed educational prgramas such as a weekly "Flight Night" tastings, and private "Home Bar School" classes. Whenever possible, he would continue to add his own contributions to the cocktail list.

In June 2006, Hollinger was promoted to his current position as Manager, overseeing all aspects of the restaurant. A native of Southern California, Hollinger now resides in San Francisco with his wife, Fabienne.

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