Acclaimed mixologist Ben Bauer named beverage director at El Molino del Sureste

A huge name in the St. Louis cocktail scene is set to make his mark on one of the area’s most thrilling restaurants: Ben Bauer, an industry veteran and one of the foundational players in St. Louis’ craft cocktail movement, is joining El Molino del Sureste (5005-5007 S. Kingshighway) as beverage director.

Co-owner and general manager Jeff Henry announced the news in a press release, noting that Bauer will be bring “a more modernist approach to El Molino’s bar program [while] incorporating more gastronomic elements into the cocktails.”

Bauer made his name in the St. Louis hospitality industry as beverage director at The Libertine from 2013 to 2018. He quickly became known for creative libations that pushed diners beyond their traditional cocktail comfort zones. After leaving The Libertine, Bauer headed to New York, running the bars at such acclaimed hotspots as Momofuku Ko (David Chang), MADRE, and Maison Premiere. At El Molino del Sureste, he intends to create a cocktail program that complements chef Alex Henry’s farm-to-table Yucatecan cuisine.

SLM has reached out to Bauer and will update the story as more details become available.

The Backstory

For more than a decade, Alex Henry has been a key player in the city’s culinary scene, working for such esteemed chefs as Gerard Craft, Michael Gallina, and Ben Poremba, serving as executive chef of Nixta. In 2018, national food site Eater named Alex a “Young Gun,” a nod given to emerging hospitality professionals across the country.

In October 2021, Alex stepped out on his own with his debut dining concept, Sureste, in City Foundry STL. It marked the beginning of a partnership between brothers Alex and Jeff, and it introduced St. Louis diners to traditional Yucatan cuisine. Over time, that business grew to include a wholesale and retail tortilla operation, which became increasingly difficult to run out of their tiny kitchen at City Foundry. In 2023, they opened El Molino del Sureste on South Kingshighway to both increase their tortilla-making capacity but, more importantly, to expand their culinary repertoire and showcase Yucatecan cuisine in a more upscale atmosphere. Since then, the restaurant has become one of St. Louis’ most revered Mexican restaurants, earning Alex a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for “Best Chef: Midwest” this year.