Juliett is Wausau's newest cocktail lounge - and it's setting the standard
Jeff Dixon created Night Tribe Cocktails during the pandemic - this is the next step for him
Walking into Juliett, Wausau’s newest cocktail lounge, during the daylight hours really doesn’t do the place justice.
It comes alive in the evening, with lights dimmed. That’s when the atmosphere really pops.
Juliett, on Third Street across from Downtown Grocery in the space formerly home to 715 Tattoos, is the brainchild of Jeff Dixon. Many might remember Dixon from something called Night Tribe Cocktails. Night Tribe grew out of the pandemic, when a new law allowed establishments to bottle up cocktails to go since no one could drink inside an establishment.
Dixon operated that business out of a couple of places around town and that led to Whitewater Music Hall launching a residency for Dixon and Night Tribe, where he’d serve his cocktail drinks.
It’s there where I first met Dixon. I reached out to see if he would be interested in helping with a holiday drink special for City Pages’ Winterbook. I had Dixon create the drinks, walk me through their creation while I took notes and took pictures of the finished products.
I of course sampled the results, and they were beyond good. They were the work of a man who has poured everything into his craft for years. The level of detail goes down to even the ice, which is specially prepared in a large sheet and hand-cut with a saw to create those giant, clear cubes that are part of the cocktail experience.
Dixon walked me through the development of his craft on a Thursday afternoon at Juliett, which he opened three weeks ago. It started with a job at Back When Cafe, where cocktails piqued his interest and led to him reading books, studying and practicing. He also studied chemistry in college, no doubt a help. And he worked at a place called the Biltmore estate in Asheville, N.C. where he really caught the cocktail bug. No doubt he was also influenced by his time in Japan, where craftsmanship takes on a whole new meaning.
Dixon also worked at Great Northern Distillery for five years, which re-opened a couple of years ago in Stevens Point after being located in Plover.
Which is to say that once Dixon decided to open his own place, his reputation for honing his craft and presenting a delicious cocktail already preceded him. Pretty much every night in the three weeks since he opened has been absolutely packed. Word spread like wildfire on social media and photos of the place popped up on my Facebook feed even despite the rarity for which I use it.
Much like the care he puts into his cocktails, Dixon put a lot into the look of the place. It’s green and red, with exposed brick behind the bar (the wall covers part of the brick, as if a big chunk of it was ripped off, giving it a cool effect). Around the bar and surrounding tables are little green desk lamps.
For sound, Dixon has a turntable and reel-to-reel player, hooked up to speakers with a special tweeter meant to bring out the high end. Jazz is a standard at the lounge, but on display is a copy of a record by Notorious BIG. Dixon says he reads the crowd, but most nights start with jazz.
It looks pretty cool in daylight. I forgot my camera battery when I interviewed Jeff so I popped in to get a photo after dark. The lighting really came alive in that setting, as did the bar with every seat around it full of happy customers.
Behind the bar are a number of bottles, and I confess to Dixon I don’t recognize most of the names. Dixon says he’s very careful about the kinds of liquors he keeps for the bar. Though the focus is on cocktails, he curates some specific wines and beers as well. And there are a number of NA options. Dixon says their mission isn’t to serve people delicious cocktails, it’s to serve them delicious drinks, period.
Dixon isn’t alone behind the bar. He hired a woman with years of experience at some of the top cocktail lounges in Madison, and has two barbacks, one who is now learning the craft of making cocktails too.
So far, chatter is all positive on Juliett. And no doubt, considering the care that Dixon puts into his craft, that isn’t likely to change any time soon.
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