Jessica Nuffer is more than the smiling face bringing your drink. In fact, she’s been a co-partner at Bokeh Lounge for the last five of her seven years at the Haynie’s Corner Arts District restaurant and bar. That’s after nearly a decade as general manager and bar manager at the former Lamasco Bar & Grill.
Now nearly 60, Nuffer made her bartending debut at the Silver Bell in the Saint Wendel area, where she worked part-time as a single mother. “I realized I could make more bartending than I could at my factory job,” she recalls. Her early career took her through well-known establishments that have since closed, such as Duck Inn, Funky’s, Harpole’s Main Street Exit, and Village Saloon.
Although she’s now an owner and manager, Nuffer still enjoys mixing a perfect cocktail, chatting up customers, and having a front-row seat to the music scene, which she considers a well-kept secret.
“To be successful in anything, you have to have a passion for it,” Nuffer says. “You have to absolutely adore what you do, you know? I love it all, and every opportunity I’ve had and everybody I’ve worked for, I’ve learned something. And I still feel like I get to learn every day. There’s such a science between how a product is distilled to how you create a cocktail with it. I’m kind of geeky like that.”
Nuffer is behind the bar at Bokeh a couple of times a week; other days, she books bands, trains staff, and manages inventory orders, plus works catering jobs. More than anything, she loves to simply throw open her doors. “It’s like, come on in, everybody,” she says. “Let’s just have a great time.”
