So Macleod's is affiliated with Poquitos and Bastille—how did you meet the owners?
Allen: I was a restaurant painter. I painted Bastille, a couple of Cafe Fiores. I went to Scotland, where I'm from, with them to do development for Macleod's.
Rich: [Laughs] Research and development for us is a pub crawl.
Did you design your menu to complement your enormous Scotch selection?
R: We designed it to be as Scottish as possible within the limitations of not having a kitchen. High 5 Pie developed delicious savory pies for us. We brought in a brand of haggis-flavored potato chips.
You're planning to serve barrel-aged cocktails. Are there ways to predict if a mixed drink will age well?
R: Obviously no meat, and you don't want spirits that have already been aged.
One of your cocktails incorporates porridge, which sounds as awesome as a waffle that functions as a shot glass. Do you have other alcohol and breakfast-food combinations?
A: [Laughs] Haggis could be a breakfast food.
What was the purpose of your salvaged cast-iron gate prior to elegantly preventing people from plummeting off your bar deck while drinking?
A: We got it at a second-hand shop.
R: I'd say it was for keeping in sheep.
A: Only the juiciest sheep.