Who here can make a great cocktail at home? Well of course you can. Who doesn’t love a great beverage coupled with their couch and cat? If I’m going out for one, it’s really not about that.
People watching, sipping, making friends, and running into pals is cool, but in large part, many of us butterflies are taking a seat at someone’s bar because they’re behind it. And in bartending, it’s no exaggeration to say that through a bunch of sometimes ragtag and quirky regulars, legends are born.
For nearly 14 years, the calm, cool, and legendary Maurice Taylor built up his devoted, not-so-ragtag crew—a steady following of local business owners and prominent community members—behind the bar at The Chanler Hotel. His patrons included Jeff Farrar, the owner of what would become The Brenton Hotel in Newport, RI
“Jeff said, ‘Hey Mo, when my hotel is finished downtown, you’re coming to run the bar.’ I told him I wasn’t leaving The Chanler. It wasn’t a plan,” Taylor said.
But a change in The Chandler’s ownership structure shifted his perspective. “It wasn’t a comfort zone anymore. Many of us didn’t feel like we were appreciated.” He left in June 2020, started at The Brenton in July, and never looked back. “The transition was good. I build my surroundings wherever I go.”
Taylor was born and raised in Jamaica and worked briefly at the Jupiter Island Club in Jupiter, FL, before some of his snowbird customers encouraged him to come north. “I heard numerous times about Rhode Island, which I didn’t know existed. But I was looking forward to seeing it and to seeing snow, which I had never experienced before.”
He was hooked. “Newport grew on me. It’s special here,” he said.
The hotel’s restaurant/lounge, The Living Room, serves three meals a day and, with an eclectic mix of furnishings—sofas and upholstered chairs, dining tables, and an extensive bar—is designed to be all about comfort and elegance. Somewhat reminiscent of a cruise ship lounge, the bright room’s wall of windows offers stunning harbor views, and a gas fireplace at one end helps warm the vast space.
As to Taylor, there are layers. He’s cool, not a showman, and according to one Newport-based customer, he makes the best Old Fashioned she’s ever had. Stick around and you’ll discover that the calm, cool professional is also a real charmer—insightful, with an utterly infectious laugh.
“He’s always been very attentive, funny, great with suggestions on drink choices, and a good conversationalist,” said local realtor and Mo fan Erin Moitoza, which stems, according to the man himself, from his true passion. “I love meeting people,” he said. “It’s a passion just being behind the bar. I feel at peace there.”
Check him out Tuesday through Saturday at The Living Room. I recommend Thursdays, when the place hosts a weekly, lively “Salon Series” open to the public, featuring exhibits of varying artists’ work.
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