On the eve of 2007, David Kaplan opened Death & Co. on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In August 2008, Chuck Cerankosky opened Good Luck in Rochester's Neighborhood of the Arts. Death & Co. would become one of the foremost influential bars of the modern cocktail movement, spawning locations in Denver, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Good Luck would be the first in a family of six beloved Rochester cocktail bars, as well as the foundation for the Rochester Cocktail Revival. Kaplan and Cerankosky share an additional commonality: they graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology one year apart.
Join these industrious RIT alumni turned hospitality professionals as they discuss their careers and the nuances of opening a bar in 2007 versus 2024. Kaplan, a 2004 fine art photo graduate, will delve into the creation and international growth of Death & Co.; while Cerankosky, a 2003 industrial design major, maps out his nontraditional path in Rochester, from starting a cocktail bar during a recession and running a decade-long cocktail festival to building brands across the city. RIT hospitality professor Lorraine Hems moderates. $25 admission includes a cocktail or mocktail.
ASL interpreting services available upon request; please contact cheers@rochestercocktailrevival.com.
Sponsored by Rochester Institute of Technology.
