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Marley Tomic-Beard Takes Over at Smith

What's she doing there? Tap cocktails, for starters.

Allecia Vermillion
Author: Allecia Vermillion
1 min.read

Tomic-Beard, who presumably won’t have much time to toss citrus at her new gig.

Marley Tomic-Beard moved to Seattle from Boston and quickly landed behind the bar at Bathtub Gin and Co. and Spur, then Golden Beetle. Last year she created a menu of Southern-tinged cocktails at newcomer The Sexton, a bourbon-embracing lineup that earned the barstaurant plenty of praise.

Now you can find Tomic-Beard on Capitol Hill; in October she came on board as bar manager at Smith. She digs having Linda Derschang as a boss, and has been busy putting her stamp on the cocktail list at the 15th Avenue gastropub. Smith now pours tap wine, and today it debuts its new tap cocktail program. Why, what a coincidence. Today happens to be Repeal Day, too.

Tomic-Beard has been experimenting with different tap-worthy drinks since reporting to work. Unlike the famed versions at Montana, which are force carbonated, Tomic-Beard uses nitrous for smaller bubbles and a finished product that isn’t quite as fizzy. Under these circumstances, she finds, spirit-forward libations do better than juice.

Speaking of spirit forward, she’s inaugurating the tap today with a keg of vespers. Next up—a rye-forward Manhattan with a good smoke to it. And various other drinks that will draw on the housemade liqueurs, tinctures, and other creations Tomic-Beard has planned. Look for a few more tap cocktals over at fellow Derschang venue Bait Shop when it opens next week.




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Allecia Vermillion
Allecia Vermillion
Allecia Vermillion has spent a decade at Seattle Met, arriving as food and drink editor, and expanding her role over the years. She served as the magazine’s editor in chief until moving into a newly created executive editor role in 2021. She spearheads Seattle Met’s food and drink coverage and oversees home design content. Allecia’s writing has earned her multiple journalism awards and two James Beard Award nominations over the years. A native of Portland, Oregon, Allecia began her writing life as a newspaper reporter in the Chicago suburbs before making a grateful return to the Pacific Northwest. She has an English degree from Washington University (no, the one in St. Louis) and a masters in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.