David Kaplan

CEO

David has worked in the hospitality business since the age of 13. In the summer of 2006, at 24 years old, he opened Death & Company, a cocktail bar in the East Village of Manhattan, with his partner Ravi DeRossi. At the 2010 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards Death & Co won American’s Best Cocktail Bar and World’s Best Cocktail Menu.  Shortly after opening Death & Co David formed the hospitality consulting and management company ProprietorsLLC with Alex Day and Devon Tarby. ProprietorsLLC has opened over 50 bars and restaurants all over the country and abroad for clients of all sizes.  Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails, written by David, Alex Day and Nick Fauchald, was published on October 7th, 2014 and has become one of the best-selling cocktail books of all time. Their second book, Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions hit shelves October 30th, 2018 to rave reviews and won both a James Beard Award for Book of the Year in 2019 and a Spirited Award and the 2019 Tales of The Cocktail for Best Cocktail Book. In May of 2018, the group opened Death & Co Denver, a multi-faceted food and beverage destination within The Ramble Hotel. Their most recent property, Death & Co LA, opened November 2019 and the group is currently working towards a Death & Co Chicago 2020 opening.  David runs the collective companies as CEO of Gin & Luck with his co-owners Alex, Ravi and Devon.  When not on the road, he lives in Jackson Hole with his wife Jenna and their dogs, Stella and Doug.