With his latest creation featuring smoked grapefruit and honey chili, Sean Palmer is operating in rare cocktail air. “It’s very popular with guests,” the sommelier, cocktail whiz, and owner of Sip & Stir, Park city’s go-to personal cocktail and wine service, says modestly.
Many Parkites first encountered Sean at Handle, his professional residence upon returning from the Bay area in 2015. In a whirl of creativity, he created more than 50 signature cocktails at Handle by “taking the classics and making them different, more complex,” he says.
Sean had decamped to San Francisco for an offer from the famed Michelin-starred Spruce restaurant to join the sommelier team, tend the bar, and achieve a Level 2 Sommelier’s certification, which involved “theory, blind tasting and a service portion,” he recalls. “Challenging and fascinating!”
Soon enough, however, Sean and his wife Marissa were back in Park City, raising two daughters. “It's a great place to start a family,” he avers. “Among the places I’ve been, Park City feels the most like home.”
Arriving in the mountains from Maryland in 2006 with a business degree and a thirst for skiing, Sean honed his talent for signature cocktails at Red Rock Brewery and The Farm at Canyons Village. He started Sip & Stir in 2020 as restaurants re-opened post-COVID, “a good time to embrace in-home hospitality,” he says.
Sip & Stir is now a popular ticket, from birthday and wedding blowouts to quiet dinners – a lifestyle that permits Sean to express his craft while focusing on family. “I get to provide an intimate in-home experience and still make the girls’ soccer practice,” he smiles.
A seasoned local observer, Sean credits growth with making Park City’s culinary, cocktail, and wine scene “the best it's ever been,” he declares. “People have a choice of excellent restaurants but can also have first-class private experience at home.”
That’s a made-to-order recipe for an expert like Sean and Sip & Stir.