Sebastián Montero-Hernández never planned on bartending. Born in Venezuela, raised in Atlanta and newly moved to Savannah, he found himself working in a restaurant that suddenly needed a bartender. He did not have any formal training, experience or a clear cocktail point of view. However, he brought curiosity, grit and a willingness to learn. When asked if he could step in, he said, “If you teach me, I’ll do it.”
What followed was a crash course in bartending through books, online videos, and trial and error. The pace suited him, and so did the social rhythm of the bar.
In 2023, Montero-Hernández joined The Grey, Savannah’s celebrated Southern restaurant. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life. He was held to a standard he had never previously encountered. “The Grey is a place that challenges you every single day to be better, to be intentional,” he says.
Immersed in a kitchen culture shaped by Executive Chef and Cofounder Mashama Bailey, Montero-Hernández began to think about ingredients in terms of flavor, aroma and chemistry. Executive Chef Olivier Reedholm, who is now at Ecco Buckhead in Atlanta and who nominated Montero-Hernandez for Rising Star, became an important mentor. “The way he expressed himself with food was very scientific, and it really caught my attention,” Montero-Hernández says.
When The Grey’s bar menu called for a French art theme, Montero-Hernández created “The Dorsay,” named for the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Cognac provided the French anchor, fat-washed chocolate brought depth, kiwi oleo saccharum added brightness and egg white with lime juice rounded out the glass. It took ten iterations to get it right.
“After that experience, I realized that working with cocktails, you have to think outside of the box,” he says. “To execute an idea, you have to think about different methods to integrate into a cocktail. It is the same way a chef thinks about a dish.”
For Montero-Hernández, bartending is about people. “Anybody can make a drink. Not everybody can be a bartender,” he says. To him, bartending is one of the most multidimensional roles in a restaurant, requiring the instincts of a host, the precision of a craftsman, the attentiveness of a server and—on difficult nights—something close to a counselor.
What makes that possible is empathy, he says. “You have to care about people. If you don’t, it’s going to be hard for you. You’re going to hate what you do.”
That same belief shapes how he thinks about mentorship. The bartenders, chefs and colleagues who shared their knowledge with him did more than teach technique; they modeled the generosity he now tries to pass forward.
In 2024, Montero-Hernandez launched Caramba, a Latin-themed pop-up with fellow Hispanic bartenders in Savannah. Named for a Spanish expression of surprise and delight, Caramba brings a layer of Latin American identity to the city’s cocktail scene.
“Caramba is a way for me to bridge the gap between cultures, so people understand that we are not too far away from each other,” he says. “We have nuances that make us different, and I want to celebrate those nuances.”
Upcoming pop-ups will explore the differences among Latin American countries, Latin American film and television, and a potential expansion into the Atlanta market.
For Montero-Hernandez, the work remains deeply personal. “I am a very passionate person who cares about people, who is empathetic and who wants to express myself through hospitality, through gastronomy and through cocktails,” he says. For him, the bar is more than a place to pour drinks. It is where culture, connection and hospitality meet.
Read More About the Other 2026 Rising Stars
Michaela Finlayson
Frank Fodor
Austin Goetzman
Remy Loet
Alexandria Rogers
Richard Wilson
Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Georgia Natural Gas, and table sponsors, Society Insurance and Savannah Distributing, for making this event possible:
Presenting Sponsor
Table Sponsors
Savannah Distributing and Society Insurance
