Wine Enthusiast – October 2019

48 | WINE ENTHUSIAST | OCTOBER 2019

4O under 4O I 2019

Alex Negranza, 30

Coffee Director/Partner, Penny Quarter;

Director of Operations, The Pastry War,

Tongue-Cut Sparrow, The Nightingale

Room • Houston

Barista turned bartender

Within Bobby Heugel’s expanding Houston bar

empire, Negranza’s role spans both the coffee and

cocktail worlds. He oversees bar operations at a

trio of hotspots that range from formal (Tongue-

Cut Sparrow) to raucous (dance club Nightin-

gale Room) and agave-rifi c (mezcaleria The

Pastry War). Negranza, a coffee connoisseur and

former Seattle barista, has returned to his roots

with Penny Quarter, an all-day coffee and wine

bar that opened this summer. He’s well-known

as a SoulCycle devotee and fi tness advocate for

the bartending community and is vocal about

promoting visibility for L.G.B.T.Q. bartenders.