Aces of Trades: Ben Long's love of service spurs Millersport's Hereinafter Cocktail Tavern
MILLERSPORT – He came back to the area to do what he loves.
“Growing up I was an athletic and extremely competitive kid,” Ben Long said. “I competed in everything I could from competitive gymnastics until age 13, to soccer, basketball and tennis in high school. I was a two-time all-state soccer player in high school, and I truly wanted to play sports as long as I could, which led to a college career as a soccer player where I was all-conference my junior year.”
“But my true goal was to serve others,” he said. “That started with a pre-med track in college, thinking I wanted to become a doctor like my father but morphed into the restaurant industry once I got a job at an Italian restaurant in D.C. I was writing my master’s thesis in my last semester and needed some money. I was always interested in working in restaurants, and so I started as a food runner. I loved working in the kitchen but definitely wanted to serve guests more directly, and so I began working the front of house as a server and then a bartender.”
Today, Long is the owner of Hereinafter Cocktail Tavern, 3430 North Bank Road, Millersport.
“My role is everything and anything that’s needed to keep the restaurant in working order and serving guests to the standards we set for ourselves,” he said.
The name Hereinafter, by the way, comes from a 1932 book called the “Savoy Cocktail Book” by bartender Harry Craddock.
“In the first few pages, (Craddock) wrote, ‘Hereinafter learn all that is known about cocktails,’” Long said. “So I never stop learning and I never stop teaching my craft. Hereinafter is the embodiment of that goal.”
Long initially grew up in Nashport near Zanesville, then moved to Granville, where he graduated from high school in 1999. He went on to graduate from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a second major in international studies, then earned a master’s in international relations from American University in Washington in 2005.
“The goal was to work for the Central Intelligence Agency eventually, which never came to fruition,” he said. “Sept. 11 was still fresh in my mind, and I wanted to serve my country however I could.”
“I never really got back to my original goal of working for the government because I enjoyed working in restaurants,” he said. “I especially loved being able to directly serve and affect people in a positive fashion. And I was adept at it.”
Long became a bartender extraordinaire at upscale spots in New York City and Washington. Then he thought about starting his own place but, he said, “All of the bars I was looking to open in the D.C. area evaporated with the strictures, policies and economic realities of COVID. So I decided to relocate back to Ohio and open my own cocktail bar at Buckeye Lake, a place that held fond childhood memories.”
Hereinafter Cocktail Tavern opened in December 2022.
“Ben Long came to the Buckeye Lake region with a vision of what could be, an upscale cocktail tavern with great food,” said Tim Ryan, a customer and self-described fan of Hereinafter. “Ben made it happen. Hereinafter Cocktail Tavern is a special place for our region. Relax, have fun, inside or out, and enjoy the best cocktails anywhere.”
Long responded: “I loved the idea of returning home to serve my community I grew up in and pay back the people who helped me along the way. I loved the idea of being in Buckeye Lake, a party-loving town, that didn’t have any options in the style of the cocktail bar I wanted to open. Thus, Hereinafter Cocktail Tavern was born.”
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Aces of Trades: Ben Long of Millersport's Hereinafter Cocktail Tavern
