“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Ying Chang, co-owner of Strong Water Anaheim, the popular shipwreck-themed bar.
Chang, along with her partner in work and life, Robert Adamson, landed on the James Beard Awards’ semifinalist list for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program, the only Orange County spot to make this year’s cut. Since the announcement, the couple has seen a spike in interest in what their venue, which got its start as a weekday pop-up, is all about.
Adamson and Chang, who met 20 years ago while working at the Irvine Spectrum (Ying at California Pizza Kitchen, Adamson at the Cheesecake Factory), came to the table with years of corporate restaurant experience. After falling for each other, the two worked at a Prohibition era-style bar where they got to lead a pop-up called Mahalo Mondays, which gave them the chance to delve further into Tiki mixology.
“We created unique individual cocktails for the event,” said Adamson “And based on its theme, we also made sure that the ingredients matched the theme, which pushed us further to be better.”
Opening in 2019, Anaheim Strong Water, which Chang describes as “a fully immersive bar experience,” could, of course, fall under the Tiki bar category. The themed bar/restaurant is meant to mimic walking through the cabin of the the fictional Clementine, a treasure ship from 1884. A curved beamed ceiling forms a canopy over the venue to give it its maritime vibe, dark plank wood on the walls adds to the theme, while other seafaring adornments can be found throughout the venue, which sees lines coming out the door on the regular.
But their Anaheim establishment is much more than a happy hour Mai-Tai pit stop. Its main draw, as the James Beard Awards nominating committee can attest, is its beverage program that hones in on complexity…
Read the full article here