Meet the Girl Power Behind the Bar at Courtland Club

Head bartender Kayla Campbell and beverage director Laura Ganci manage the bar program at Courtland Club. Photo courtesy of Courtland Club/Nadia Eisa.

There’s so much girl power happening at Courtland Club in Providence, Laura Ganci and Kayla Campbell could be the Spice Girls. The pair of bartenders create the drink menu at the intimate cocktail bar, restaurant and part-time jazz club. Ganci, the beverage director, handles the day-to-day vision, recipe development and ordering, while head bartender Campbell manages the nightly drink service and guest experience.

The Eight Ball cocktail. Photography by Angel Tucker

Campbell started her career at Courtland Club as a guest. She was a regular and when she overheard Ganci say they were looking for help, she seized the opportunity. At the time, she was working in a cubicle and had weekends available. Ganci hired her as a host, but she quickly rose to server, and then trained to become a bartender. She was able to leave her day job, working her way up to head bartender.

“I really adore the people aspect of it,” Campbell says. “I think that was what drew me to taking this on as a second job in the first place. I was missing the human interaction that I wasn’t finding sitting at a desk sending emails all day long.”

Ganci is a mentor to Campbell and many of the other team members who want to learn about spirits. “I jokingly call her my protege. It’s never an issue for me to start someone from green and teach them whatever it is that I know,” Ganci says. “And with Kayla, it was so fun to be reminded of what it was like in the beginning.”

Courtland Club was a former neighborhood social club. Photography by Angel Tucker

The pair spend time together infusing syrups, sipping spirits, describing tasting notes and testing out drink recipes until they get the right flavors and ratios. Campbell now develops her own drinks on the menu and they come up with monthly “Zodiac” cocktails that draw on seasonal ingredients.

What makes their work even more fun is adapting the cocktail menu to complement the creations of the resident chef, Panagiota “Paula” Agganis, who runs Courtland Club’s Greek-themed restaurant concept, Paula’s. Her menu includes a dip platter of beet tzatziki sauce, pureed fava beans and whipped feta with pita, dolmans (stuffed grape leaves), lemon potatoes, a braised pork gyro and a lamb shank with saffron orzo.

The Zodiac cocktail. Photography by Angel Tucker

Ganci pairs the cuisine with cocktails with Greek elements, including the Brine-Tini, a dirty martini made with the brine from Kalamata olives. They find ways to mitigate food waste by incorporating citrus fruits in the food menu, and using the zest and juices for the bar program.

“When they make ice cream, they use a whole bunch of egg yolks, and then we use the egg whites for cocktails,” Campbell says. “We have egg white foam on top of the Magic Eight Ball. And after we finish peeling all the skins off oranges to garnish drinks, they take those oranges and use the flesh on the inside for salads.” Instead of nose-to-tail cooking, it’s peel-to-pith bartending. 51 Courtland St., Providence, 227-9300, courtlandclub.com