In Part I of our exclusive interview with Taavo Somer and Ken Friedman, the Rusty Knot owners discussed their new menu, changing their hours of operation, and why they deep sixed the chicken liver and bacon sandwich. In Part II, Taavo and Ken discuss their new drink menu, why Ken is no good at tasting events, their own economic stimulus plan, and why mixing Red Bull and wine is a winning combination.

DBTH: So you have a brand new drink menu. Was it always the plan to change with the seasons?

Ken Friedman: It’s seasonal

Taavo Somer: We switched on Monday, the 22nd

What about the old drinks?

T: We will see what we will do for the spring, if we get new drinks, but we will probably bring those back for the summer.

K: Toby and Jason came up with the menu. We do these tastings but I get so drunk that I forget. Taavo remembers.

Which ones are you really excited about?

T: The Navy grog is great, and the red rum. The evolution was so great. We had the wine cooler in the summer, but how do we make the wine cooler more fall and winter. It was like a sangria without the fruit, which didn’t work. Someone said "what about coke and red wine?" Then someone said "what about Red Bull and Wine?"

K: Why don’t we just go for it? What the hell? Why fuck around?

T: Everyone was like ”that sounds horrible” and we were trying it and it was actually pretty good.

K: We do have to scrape people off the ceiling at 4 AM.

What's The Rusty Knot Economic Stimulus Plan?

K: People complain about our Wall Street crowd at Sundown. People gave us a hard time about it but we love them. But then they all lost their jobs, so we are trying to figure out a way to get them back. So we came up with a pretzel dog and a Busch for $1. We haven’t figured out how to prove they are from Wall Street

What about bringing in their termination notice?

T: Their pink slip!

K: That’s a good idea. Maybe a free shot with a pink slip. The good thing is they aren’t wearing those ugly yellow ties. They are dressed normal.

Update: The Rusty Knot's Navy Grog is made with Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Creole Shrubb, Simple Syrup, House Made Sour Mix, Angostura Bitters, Regans Orange Bitters, Cinnamon, Cloves, Anise Stars