Rae Doyle grew up in St. Louis, but she really came into her own as a hospitality professional in Des Moines, Iowa. “I started honing my bartending skills and spirits knowledge while I was general manager of the locally beloved Alba,” she says. “I then went on to help open their sister restaurant, Harbinger, where I was able to create a cocktail program inspired by the savory, umami flavors of the food menu, with an emphasis on seasonal products and repurposing food scraps from the kitchen.”

Then in 2017, Doyle passed her Certified Sommelier Examination and began hosting a variety of wine dinners, tasting groups, and educational events in partnership with WineFest, and in 2019, she became beverage director of RoCA, where she built a Wine Spectator-recognized wine program. In 2022, Doyle switched gears again, becoming director of food and beverage at Surety Hotel, where she led the beverage programming and culinary direction for banquet and lifestyle events for the hotel’s Mulberry Street Tavern. Recognizing Doyle’s strengths in this role, the team at Aparium Hotel Group, which owns Surety Hotel, transferred her to Atlanta last June to be part of the opening team at its new property, Hotel Granada.

As director of food and beverage at the property, Doyle is responsible for the beverage programming at the hotel’s May Peel cocktail bar and Pom Court restaurant. “May Peel is rooted in the classics, taking notes from world-famous cocktails bars spanning the last 100-plus years,” she says. “It celebrates the spirits themselves.” The menu (cocktails are $13-$20) is divided into two categories: Tried & True, which offers slightly modified classics, and Neat & New, which “plays with inventive formats and techniques while still allowing the spirits to shine,” Doyle notes. From the former category, there’s her take on the Jack Rose ($16), comprising Manoir de Montreuil Calvados, house-made grenadine, and lemon juice, and from the latter, her Bootblack ($17) features equal parts Planteray Mr. Fogg Navy rum and Gonzalez Byass Pedro Ximenez Sherry, plus Amérisse liqueur, lemon juice, and blackberry jam.

At Pom Court, meanwhile, Doyle creates simple seasonal cocktails to complement the Southern-influenced Spanish fare. “I love that I get to direct two very distinct cocktail programs within Hotel Granada,” Doyle says. “Pom Court is all things breezy, easy-going, and fun, while May Peel is moodier and more serious.”