Ruby Slipper x Sip & Guzzle: Inside the SECOND WIND Pop-Up

When one of the beverage industry's biggest weeks descends on New Orleans, the smart play isn't another late-night blowout—it's a reset. Enter SECOND WIND, a one-day collaboration that pairs a beloved Southern brunch brand with the reigning No. 1 bar in North America.

On Wednesday, July 22, Ruby Slipper will host a guest bartender pop-up at its Canal Street restaurant, welcoming Damon Fabbo, Isabela Gonzalez and Turner Greaves from New York City's Sip & Guzzle—the bar recently named No. 1 on North America's 50 Best Bars list.

Tokyo Technique, New York Hustle, New Orleans Comfort

That tagline is the whole concept in a sentence. SECOND WIND pairs the precision of Japanese bartending with Ruby Slipper's signature brunch, building an exclusive cocktail lineup crafted specifically for the occasion. The full beverage menu will be unveiled during the July 22 pop-up.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Ruby Slipper's Canal Street restaurant, located at 1001 Canal St. No tickets are required—a deliberately open-door move during a week when the city fills with hospitality pros.

"We're thrilled to host Damon, Isabela and Turner at Ruby Slipper and introduce our guests to some of the most talented bartenders in the industry," said Bryan Bass, chief marketing officer of Ruby Slipper. "They represent the best of the cocktail world, and we've always prided ourselves on delivering Southern hospitality and the kind of brunch experience people are looking for after a long night. SECOND WIND is a chance to celebrate what both teams do best in a way that feels authentic to New Orleans."

Meet the Guest Bartenders

Each visiting bartender brings a distinct background and style to the bar, all representing the acclaimed West Village cocktail destination:

• Isabela "Izzy" Gonzalez — Born and raised in New York City, she got her start in restaurants at 17, working at Pegu Club, Suffolk Arms and The Dead Rabbit before finding her place behind the bar at Sip & Guzzle. Known for her upbeat personality and genuine hospitality, she's a dedicated mom to her 6-year-old son, Milo, and an avid anime fan.
• Damon Fabbo — He joined Sip & Guzzle's Sip bar team at opening after serving as head bartender at Dullboy in Jersey City. An award-winning screenwriter and comedy school graduate, Fabbo sees bartending as another form of storytelling—crafting cocktails to make people laugh, feel at home and create moments they talk about long after the last sip.
• Turner Greaves — With Sip & Guzzle since opening, the Brooklyn native worked through nearly every front-of-house role before becoming the Sip team's newest certified bartender. A former member of the Great Jones Whiskey team and dedicated whiskey enthusiast, Greaves is focused on making guests feel cared for and leaving them with something worth talking about.

A Hospitality Collaboration, Not a Brand Grab

What separates SECOND WIND from the usual co-branded stunt is the philosophy behind it. Sip & Guzzle explicitly set out to complement Ruby Slipper's existing experience rather than overwrite it.

"We made the decision early on to approach this as a hospitality collaboration rather than a typical brand collaboration," said Alec Kass, general manager of Sip & Guzzle. "Ruby Slipper has built something people already love, so our role wasn't to recreate Sip & Guzzle, but to contribute talented people and thoughtful cocktails that fit naturally into that experience. With so many people in New Orleans for one of the beverage industry's biggest weeks, we wanted to create the kind of menu that gives guests a chance to reset, enjoy a great meal with a surprising drink and head back into the day's festivities with a second wind."

Industry Specials All Week

The pop-up anchors a full week of trade-friendly perks. From Monday, July 20 through Friday, July 24, Ruby Slipper will offer exclusive industry specials for guests with an industry ID or badge, including:

• $10 Southern Breakfast
• $7 Bloody Marys

The Pedigree Behind the Partners

Sip & Guzzle, located at 29 Cornelia St. in Greenwich Village, is the second venture from world-renowned bartenders Steve Schneider and Shingo Gokan, along with founder Justin Weitz. Inspired by the story of the Japanese consulate's mid-1800s voyage to the U.S.—and Jerry Thomas' legendary New York bar—the concept fuses New York and Tokyo under one roof, with a culinary program led by Executive Chef Isaac Leidenfrost. Beyond being named North America's Best Bar, it ranked No. 39 on The World's 50 Best Bars list, No. 51 on the Top 500 Bars list, and earned 2026 Spirited Awards nominations for Best U.S. Cocktail Bar and Best U.S. Bar Team.

Ruby Slipper, founded in New Orleans in 2008, now operates two brands—Ruby Slipper and Ruby Sunshine—across 26 restaurants in six states. In 2025, the brands were named No. 2 among America's top breakfast chains in Newsweek's Readers' Choice Awards and won Nation's Restaurant News' 2025 Breakfast Showdown.

Why It Matters

For operators, SECOND WIND is a small-scale masterclass in high-value programming. During a saturated industry week, Ruby Slipper isn't competing for the same late-night crowd—it's owning the daypart everyone else forgets, offering a "morning after" reset that draws visiting pros into its four walls. That's a lesson in counter-programming: find the moment your competitors aren't chasing.

The "hospitality collaboration, not brand collaboration" framing is also worth stealing. Rather than diluting either identity, the two teams stacked their strengths—cocktail credibility plus brunch loyalty—without one bulldozing the other. For any operator eyeing a partnership, that additive approach protects brand equity on both sides.

And the badge-holder specials are a targeted marketing spend disguised as generosity: cultivate goodwill with the very tastemakers who shape where guests eat and drink next. Word-of-mouth from industry peers is the cheapest, most credible marketing there is.

Join the Conversation

Heading to New Orleans that week? SECOND WIND runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 22 at 1001 Canal St., no ticket required. For more on how hospitality operators are rethinking their beverage programs, read our coverage on the new economics of craft and how leading brands are setting the standard for beverage partnerships. Would you build a pop-up like this? Tell us in the comments.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” for founding American Wholesale Floral. Politz is also the founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.