Josh Harris – Trick Dog

Posted on May 27, 2020

About

Josh was born in 1981 in San Francisco and is a proud City native. He played a lot of sports when he was young and got into college in Los Angeles as a track and field recruit, running the 400m, 4x400m relay, and the 400m hurdles. He had already participated in competitions from an early age, but got injured shortly after he started college. He tore a ligament in his knee, which—coinciding with a time of over indulgence—put an end to his athletic ambitions. At the age of nineteen, Josh started a summer job as a bar back, lying about his age to get the job. It was during those couple months that he caught the bartending bug. The following summer, still under twenty-one, he worked as a host in a restaurant and found that he really enjoyed working in the hospitality industry. One year passed and the manager of the restaurant he had worked for the year before moved to a new restaurant. When Josh approached him for a job, the manager asked if he was officially twenty-one now. Josh confirmed that he was indeed of legal age now, and so the manager told him that his day bartender had just left and Josh would be the new one. He could start the next day and work full-time. The place was called Postrio, and it was a famous restaurant in San Francisco.

This combination of college, bartending, and an excessive lifestyle went on for three years until Josh moved back to San Francisco and entered an in-patient substance abuse treatment facility. Josh has been sober since November 14^th, 2003.

Josh was accepted as a transfer student to the University of San Francisco. He felt like a new person entirely and excelled at school, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with degrees in Politics and Legal Studies with plans to become a lawyer or politician. He spent two-and-a-half years at USF, working nights and weekends as a bartender in various places. For him, it was the best decision to get back into bartending after becoming sober, not because it gave him a start in his career, but because it aided his transition back into the social world and helped overcome certain social anxieties that came along with the living life as a young sober person.

After Josh graduated from USF, he went to France for ten months. Something he had always wanted to do. While there, he applied for Law School in the US, but was denied. He returned home devastated and feeling like he had failed at everything, but he said to himself, “At least I know how to bartend.” And so Josh kept his spirit up and continued to work behind the bar, with the idea to reapply the next year. A year went by but he did not send off his application. Another year went by, and again, he did not apply. That was in 2006, when the new cocktail renaissance took full swing. Between 2006 and 2009 Josh was working here and there, won competitions, was a part-time brand ambassador, and in 2009 he founded The Bon Vivants, a cocktail, hospitality, marketing, and design agency. In January of 2013 Trick Dog opened its doors. Josh’s idea was to build a business that adds social value and is committed to social causes—as is evident from many of his activities today.

Trick Dog

Trick Dog quickly became well-known for their menus, the interior design and concept. Tales of the Cocktail even awarded them the prize for best menu twice. For one menu, they produced a cookbook together with local chefs where each drink represents a different approach or philosophy on cuisine from each restaurant. This menu, released in 2018, earned them their second win at Tales of the Cocktail. Trick Dog is very much associated with their menus, and every six months, they are completely reworked by the team. Bon Vivants Hospitality is very philanthropic. The group started the Bon Vivants Scholarship to cover the services of non-profit ScholarMatch for one student each year who is first generation to college and the child of parents in hospitality. They also hold a lot of fundraising events—with their regular menus as well as specials like Pig & Punch, which serves barbecue and punch with all proceeds benefiting KIPP Public Charter Schools. All info can be found on Bon Vivants’ website. Pig & Punch gained Trick Dog widespread renown. It was launched for the first time at Tales of the Cocktail.

Trick Dog is a small neighborhood bar. Downstairs fits about fifty between standing and bar stools and has three mixing stations. Upstairs, guests must enjoy dinner in addition to their cocktails, and seats up to forty more guests. The kitchen is geared towards creative bar food that is easy to share. The signature dish is called Trick Dog: a rectangular shaped burger on an hot dog bun.

Inspiration

Inspiration, for Josh, is having a connection to his heart and soul. Anything that he has created and aims to create needs to come from his heart and he needs to believe in it. He wants his projects to be meaningful and close to the community, and he wants to connect the worlds of antiques and arts with a modern venue. For him, a place needs to feel authentic and genuine, which is why he doesn’t just want to copy a concept. It needs a personal, human touch.

Favorite cocktail

Lately, Josh likes to drink a non-alcoholic version of the original Trick Dog aperitif, which consists of Seedlip, non-alcoholic sherry, and non-alcoholic vermouth made at Trick Dog. It’s simply called Non-Alcoholic Trick Dog Aperitif.

Check out Josh’s cocktail recipes: Trick Dog Aperitif and Coppa di Fiori

Favorite bar

Trick Dog. There is no place he feels more at home than in this bar.

The future of the bar world

Josh hopes that the bar industry will reach a good level of sustainability, and that businesses stay connected to the people who made them. He thinks that the risk profile and financial implications of opening hospitality projects is growing to too high, and if that continues, it will suck the soul out of the industry. He hopes that through sustainability, authentic places with soul can survive and coexist. This is true especially in his hometown of San Francisco, but New York faces the same kind of issues. It is not a climate where people are encouraged to open new businesses due to the current situation. Last year, more restaurants closed down than opened in San Francisco.

San Francisco

Josh likes San Francisco because of what it is day by day, rather than what it was yesterday. He is very proud to be a native of The City. He has a love for this place that prevails over San Francisco’s current situation. To him, it is simply beautiful and feels like a village.

Goal in life

Good health, happiness, and family. His businesses have brought him a lot of happiness and they provide for him and many others. He does not want work to feel like work. Josh wants to see the world, experience other cultures, and at some point in his life he wants to retire and become a buyer and seller of vintage items.