Nineteen17 Restaurant and Bar has a (not so) secret ingredient

What do the Flammkuchen Pizza, the Caramelized Honey Creme Brulee, and the Blackberry Kiss cocktail from Nineteen17 Restaurant and Bar at the Embassy Suites at Brooks all have in common? They feature honey as a main ingredient — but not just any honey. This honey is made from the restaurant’s on-site beehives located just a few feet away in the hotel’s garden beds.

Depending on the time of year, the hives at Embassy Suites at Brooks house between 3,000 and 30,000 bees. The hives are tended by Gregg Spickler, also known as The Bee Wrangler, and the honey is incorporated into recipes by Rachael Potts, the Food & Beverage Support Manager for Phoenix Hospitality Group, which manages the Embassy Suites at Brooks.

Gregg and Rachael and the rest of the team at Nineteen17 are so passionate about the use of their own honey bees because of the numerous benefits that local honey provides. Honey made by bees that gather pollen in the area may help those who suffer from localized allergies. Beehives are also critical to the ongoing pollination of flowers, plants, and crops, so providing safe and well-managed hives supports the local ecosystem.

Gregg and Rachael and the rest of the team at Nineteen17 are so passionate about the use of their own honey bees because of the numerous benefits that local honey provides. Honey made by bees that gather pollen in the area may help those who suffer from localized allergies. Beehives are also critical to the ongoing pollination of flowers, plants, and crops, so providing safe and well-managed hives supports the local ecosystem.

The honey from the on-site hives is harvested once a year and the culinary team already has big plans for new items on their upcoming seasonal menus. In addition to being used in restaurant and bar production, the restaurant also sells the delicious honey in its 1917 Market. Be sure to ask a restaurant or bar employee how you can take home some of the local honey for yourself!

Fancy yourself a cocktail or culinary connoisseur? Stop into Nineteen17 at Embassy Suites at Brooks to purchase some local honey and try your hand at recreating these honey-inspired cocktails and dishes.