Back in May, I offered up a playbook on how to score the best bar seats in the house, but if you really want to cocktail like a Newport local, you also need to study the players. Any local or longtime resident (these are not the same, btw), and most perennial visitors can rattle off the names of legends still behind the stick: Rick, Kenny and Luke at the Clarke Cooke House, Mark at The Mooring, Josh at Speakeasy, Joe at Cappy’s. But there’s a new team on the rise with the opening of new restaurants and as former barbacks and bussers who learned at the taps of the island libation masters get the nod for primetime.
Concurrent with its one-year anniversary, Mother Pizzeria was recently named one of the best pizzerias in the USA by the Italian publication 50 Top Pizza, also picking up three Best Of Awards by RI Monthly, including Best Pizza in Newport. But don’t let the word “pizzeria” fool you; the bar at Mother is where it’s at.
The program features low intervention wines by the glass, carafe and bottle, craft beers, and Italian-centric cocktails, with ingredients sourced both locally and via small production operations whenever possible. The aim is familiarity with a bit of adventure, and co-owner Lauren Schaefer said her women-centric team has really hit its stride.
Two of them, Brooke Lenling and Sloane (‘Lo) Kelly, have been on board since the restaurant’s inception. They womanpower a sleek, 13-seat bar like champions and as a customer, I promise you they are an absolute blast to hang out with.
Lenling, who grew in New Bedford, MA, found her way to Newport in 2021, working briefly at both The Reef and at a country club in Portsmouth. Passionate about holistic health and wellness, a yogi, nature lover, clean conscious beauty advocate, spin class devotee, and snow boarder, Lenling exudes kindness and serenity behind the bar and is not only an absolute delight to chat with, but she makes a seriously exquisite cocktail and is efficient as hell.
The philosophy at Mother felt right for her lifestyle, she said, and it’s that vibe that seems to reflect back on the customer. “They make it so easy to love working there,” she said. “They really checked all the boxes for me (demonstrating) that hospitality is not dead. They put love and care into everything they do, ingredients are fresh, high quality and seasonal, (all) year. I love connecting with people over food, creative cocktails, and good conversation.
Someday, she muses, maybe she’ll woman a mobile craft cocktail bar of her own, but until then, “There’s a sense of community here. I really found a home.”
Sloane Kelly’s friends call her Lo, and you can too, because this endearing human is just that warm and friendly. The woman is as joyful as a hummingbird, with a laugh to match, but when it comes to her craft, she does not play. She’s all pro.
Her crafts are many. A former competitive dancer, she is a painter, woodworker, writer and avid bookworm. “At my core,” she said, “I’m fueled by artistic expression in any form.”
Born and raised 30 minutes from Seattle, she moved to Newport in 2013, eventually training with legendary Providence based bar guru Vito Lantz. “He taught me everything I know,” she said. At her first interview at Mother, something struck a chord.
“I looked at the menu and was immediately intrigued. It aligned with what I was used to doing in Providence. That excited me.” She said she enjoys exchanging ideas with beverage director Nate Hayden.
“Mother is trying to do something different,” she notes, riffing on the strong influence of math and science in cocktail creation. “There’s a lot of nerdy forethought there, brilliantly disguised as artistic expression!” she laughs, going on to describe the satisfaction of a beautifully balanced drink.
“The experience goes beyond taste. I want your drink to be delicious, but more than that a full expression of the senses, from the visual of the garnish, to the nose, texture and mouthfeel. All of that is deeply important and taken into consideration when building a cocktail menu.”
Four years into a five-year architecture degree, currently taking a break, a possible goal once the course is completed would be to work in the highly competitive disaster relief sector, “…essentially be a first responder to natural disasters, boots on ground, building temporary shelters. That would be the path if I were to go that direction.”
But she also doesn’t discount the idea of owning “a bar that spins vinyl attached to a bookshop.” For now, bartending counts as another way to work with her hands, Lo said, and she’s enjoying every minute of it.
Mother co-owner Lauren Schaefer couldn’t’ be prouder. “Brooke and Lo have been with us since day one and not only have they embraced the vision we set for the bar program, but they’ve set the tone for the rest of the bar team that has joined since. Genuine hospitality and guest-centric service is at this team’s core. And above all that, they’re really f*cking good bartenders.”
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