photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
Steven Burns with a “Sour Cherry Negroni.”
“Many years ago, I thought I wanted to be a chef, and so I went off to culinary school in Charleston, South Carolina. But after a year, I decided it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to do that for a living, but I did love the restaurant business, so I guess I weaseled my way into becoming a bartender.”
The road to becoming a bartender was a long and winding one for Steven Burns, who got his start in the food trade as a server at Corky’s BBQ in New Orleans, of all places.
“I needed a job and saw that they had an opening” he says. “I thought, well, I’m from Memphis so they have to hire me — and they did.” That was in the 1990s, after Burns had graduated from French Camp Academy in Mississippi and spent a couple of years attending classes at Ole Miss and the University of Memphis. Corky’s turned out to be a good fit, so much so that it brought him back to his hometown.
“I came back to Memphis and opened a Corky’s in Cordova,” Burns says. “Then I worked at Coletta’s on Appling Road for a few years, which is where I started bartending. Then I went to Jim’s Place East for another five or six years, and followed that up with a stint at Ya Ya’s in Germantown. Finally, I moved to the Half Shell, and I was there for 15 years, from 2010 to 2025.”
Fifteen years is a long time to work at a single place in the restaurant business, but it was a good match for Burns.
“The Half Shell is such a Memphis staple, I thought, ‘This is it. This is where I want to be.’ I liked the bar’s feel, the neighborhood, everything they were doing. It was a great 15 years, but I eventually wanted to move more into the management side, and Cocozza was opening a new store and looking for a bar manager.”
“I love making drinks and talking to people and seeing them having a good time. I like to get to know new people, maybe crack a couple jokes.” — Steven Burns
The change has been a very good one, says Burns. Owners Deni and Patrick Reilly opened the Majestic Grille on South Main Street in 2005 and the first Cocozza location, in Harbor Town, in 2020. Cocozza East opened in June of this year.
“Deni and Patrick are building a culture of family out here,” says Burns. “They want us to be a neighborhood joint. We want people to walk in and become familiar faces. We offer really good food and service, and it’s a nice, comfortable place to get pasta and a glass of wine. We’re not overdone. Like our slogan says, we want Cocozza to be ‘the red sauce joint of your dreams.’”
Burns seems very much at home behind the small bar near the entrance of his new joint. “I love making drinks and talking to people and seeing them having a good time,” he says. “I like to get to know new people, maybe crack a couple jokes. … I have some really bad ones,” he admits.
I’m tempted to ask Burns to tell me one, but decide discretion is probably called for, and turn the conversation to, well, booze.
“Our ‘Tequila Spritz’ is really popular,” Burns says. “We make it with lime, fresh mint, St. Germain, which is an elderberry liqueur, Prosecco, club soda, and tequila, of course.”
“That sounds great, but this is for our November issue, so what about something for a cold, dark Memphis evening?” I ask.
“I’d suggest our ‘Sour Cherry Negroni,’” says Burns, not missing a beat. “It’s one of our signature drinks, made with sour cherry gin, sweet vermouth, and Cappelletti, which is a kind of a bitter aperitif. We serve it with a Luxardo cherry, instead of the traditional orange wedge. It’s got a nice tart flavor and a really good balance. It’s our play on a traditional Negroni. Would you like to try one?”
“Sure. Sounds like a winner.”
After a couple of minutes, Burns sets the drink on the simple Formica bar top. It’s pretty — a lush, deep-red concoction resting in a shiny coupe glass. At first sip, you notice the slightly thick texture with hints of sour cherry and a pleasant light bitterness. Then you notice how it warms the innards as you savor it.
Maybe this is the red sauce of my dreams, I think. Nah. But there’s no doubt that this ruby cocktail would be a good drink to savor by a crackling fireplace. Or with a plate of pasta at the casual little bar at Cocozza East that’s managed by Steven Burns. Tell him you want the red sauce.
Cocozza East, 919 S. Yates Rd.
