Paul MacDonald
Friday Saturday Sunday | Philadelphia
April 2019
A native of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Paul MacDonald came to bartending in 2010 after being hired at Bethlehem’s Bookstore Speakeasy. Without any prior experience, he learned how to craft cocktails on the job. A year later, he moved to Philadelphia to work at cocktail den Farmers’ Cabinet, where he stayed for two years until jumping to Society Hill Society in 2014. When that project closed, MacDonald joined the team at Ellen Yin’s a.bar and spent two years contributing to the cocktail menu to complement adjoining restaurant a.kitchen.
In 2016, MacDonald joined the reopening team of Philadelphia’s Friday Saturday Sunday. Using rare cocktail ingredients like smoked eggplant, MacDonald has developed a reputation for inventive beverages and accommodating, personalized service. One of his early cocktails named “Fibonacci in Autumn” used the famous ratio found in nature’s Fibonacci sequence to create a blended experience of five different spirits. His Assassin’s Handbook, with aged rum, Cognac, Averna, mulled wine shrub, and habanero tincture, first punches high acid, then bitter and bold, and at the last moment, your throat lights up with a chile tingle. It’s a thrill.
MacDonald posts composed photos of his cocktails on Instagram, displaying them as works of art for his nearly 16,000 followers. With imagination overflowing, he’s defining good drinking in Philadelphia. The reincarnated Friday Saturday Sunday was given the top spot on Philadelphia Magazine’s list of the “50 Best Bars” in 2017.
