Meet the Team
Ian Ward
Mixologist
Ian’s culinary roots were formed in his native New York, where he trained under famed Chef Massimiliano Bartoli. Upon moving to San Diego, Ward took up work at the historic Hotel Del Coronado where he helped revamp their cocktail list. Ward, was then given the opportunity to design the bar program at La Jolla’s Whisknladle, recently named one of the world’s hottest restaurants by Conde Nast. It was at Whisknladle where Ward refined his approach toward culinary cocktails. After gaining notoriety for being one of the country’s top up-and-coming mixologists, Ian decided to form his own consulting firm, Snake Oil Cocktail Co., with fellow Mixologist, Lucien Conner and Events Specialist, Michael Esposito. After just a few months in operation, Snake Oil Cocktail Co. has already proven a huge success with cocktails designed for The Sundance Film Festival; The Concours d’ Elegance; Searsucker Restaurant with Top Chef’s Brian Malarkey; and Quality Social with James Beard nominated Chef Jared Van Camp. Ward, has been named “Best Mixologist” in San Diego by numerous industry magazines and was recently inducted into the San Diego chef consortium, Cooks Confab!, for his creativity and passion for designing culinary cocktails.
Lucien Conner
Mixologist
Texas raised, UCLA educated, well traveled, even better versed in food and wine, Lucien Conner is an odd mix of things. This eclectic background works; it manifests in the cocktails Conner creates and reflects the patchwork of unique experiences, flavors, scents, sights and sounds that make up an interesting life. Since coming to San Diego in 2007, Lucien has ingrained himself in the city’s bourgeoning cocktail and food scene. During his time behind the bar at La Jolla’s Whisknladle, recently named one of the world’s hottest restaurants by Conde Nast, Lucien began collaborating with fellow Mixologist, Ian Ward. The two saw a future forming as they began creating culinary cocktails designed to pair with food from some of the city’s most talented young chefs. During his spare time, Conner began hosting a series of off-hour Midnight Dinner Parties to formally bring together this flourishing young culinary talent. The sense of shared direction and drive that these dinners encouraged was the same force that inspired Conner and Ward to Join forces with Events Specialist, Michael Esposito to form the cocktail consulting firm, Snake Oil Cocktail Co. The three have played on their talents and have already taken their company to The Sundance Film Festival, The Concours d’ Elegance and into consulting projects for heavy-hitters like Top Chef’s Brian Malarkey and Quality Social’s James Beard nominated Chef Jared Van Camp.
Michael Esposito
Business Development
Michael has a background in media communication, advertising, and special event promotions. He is currently serving as the Technical Director for TEDx San Diego and is involved with a number of special events, fundraising initiatives, and large-scale sports expos. In 2009, he combined his passion for special events with a love of food and joined forces with mixologists, Ian Ward and Lucien Conner, to found Snake Oil Cocktail Co. Prior to Snake Oil Cocktail, Michael served as Business Development Manager for Vision Matrix Productions, a high-end technical event production company specialized in producing large-scale global finance and thought leader summits. Additionally, Michael has a background in natural foods marketing where he has worked for start-up, LightFull Foods, and he has experience working in advertising as an Account Executive at Saatchi & Saatchi NYC. Michael received his M.A. in Communication from The University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. in Communication from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Michael’s partnership building abilities, his vision for recognizing growth potential, and his event sponsorship relations makes him a vital part of the team at Snake Oil Cocktail Co.