The Lucky Accomplice Pairs Ingredient-Driven Cocktails with Its New Tasting Menu

Marked by a neon rabbit in the window, The Lucky Accomplice has a fun, boisterous atmosphere activated by the bar, where beverage director Corey Moszer crafts elegant cocktails that complement the magic technique and inventive dishes of chef-owner Logan Ely.

Among décor that ranges from whimsical to punkish, guests can sip ingredient-driven, modern cocktails such as Bring the Beet Back (dill-infused vermouth, blue cheese-washed vodka and a beet-peppercorn shrub), Scotch ‘N’ Squash (scotch infused with maple-glazed squash, nocino, spiced pear and lemon) and Chai Me A River (chai-infused tequila, cinnamon, allspice and cold-brew coffee).

“No matter what we’re creating at The Lucky Accomplice, we use the same checklist,” Moszer explains. “Are we sourcing fresh ingredients for it? Does it taste great? Can we make it efficiently during dinner service? Will it look appetizing on Instagram?”

Ask anyone who’s enjoyed a meal at The Lucky Accomplice, and they’ll say that it checks all the boxes.

Here, Moszer spills the tea on everything that’s happening behind the bar at The Lucky Accomplice.

Do you have a secret-weapon ingredient or technique that you use to create cocktails at The Lucky Accomplice?

I use a lot of cool, elevated cooking techniques from the kitchen. The cocktails are also influenced by fresh ingredients, and I try to find the most creative and thoughtful ways to extract their flavors. I want the cocktails to reflect the actual flavors of the ingredients, not some sugary imitations.

Do you prefer to work with certain spirits for cocktails?

Seasonally, I do. In spring and summer, I gravitate towards agave spirits because they’re light and playful, whereas in fall and winter, I like to layer up like the rest of the world, and rich brown spirits such as bourbon and cognac are good for that.

What’s the most intriguing cocktail that you’ve recently made?

Chef Logan used to cook in Houston, where there’s a world-renowned bar called Anvil. One time, he asked the bartenders for a cocktail that tasted like leather, and I was always fascinated by that idea. So, for the last few years, I’ve tried to achieve a cocktail that tastes like leather, and I feel like I finally accomplished my goal with The Antique Smokeshow [armagnac, overproof rum, Swedish Punsch, lapsang tea and fernet bitters]. It tastes like an Old Fashioned aged in a leather handbag – in a nice way.

The Antique Smokeshow, Devil In A New Dress, Stay Off The Grass – the names of your cocktails are genius. How do you come up with them?

Being completely honest, I hated that part of the job for a long time, but when we started having fun with it, it became one of my favorite tasks. Bren Prindable, our front-of -house manager, and I are both silly, and we’ll throw ideas at each other until something sticks.

How does the bar program complement the cuisine at The Lucky Accomplice?

[Now that The Lucky Accomplice serves] seven- and 10-course tasting menus, the pairings have to be extra thoughtful. Our cocktails have always reflected ingredients from the kitchen, but chef Justin Bell and I will now go through the menu with a fine-tooth comb, choosing the dishes for which I’ll create pairings. I’ll unpack those plates, pulling out ingredients and flavors that are particularly interesting and working with them in new recipes. If a dish features sunchokes, for example, I’ll accent a cocktail with, say, sunchoke-infused amaro.

How would you describe the local bar scene to a visitor?

Whatever you want, St. Louis has it. Some of my favorite people are making cocktails in the city, and a lot of the bars, like Platypus in The Grove, are really approachable. As a co-owner, I’m partial to Press [The Lucky Accomplice’s next-door neighbor]. If it’s not showing too much bias, I’ll say that I genuinely believe that the experience at Press is unique. We have elevated yet familiar cocktails – with and without alcohol – that come out of a draft system. It’s awesome to see these beautiful drinks being poured in just a few seconds.