Liu is no slouch when it comes to cocktails - or Richmond dining.

Lui is the co-owner of Tin Pan restaurant and music venue in western Henrico County and in 2016 bought Carytown Cupcakes at 3111 W. Cary St.

Lui is now also a partner in The Jasper, which is adjacent to Carytown Cupcakes.

"I wanted to partner with Mattias and T because they're awesome people/awesome bartenders," Liu said. "I've been friendly with both for a long time, and when I heard that Mattias left Heritage, we started having conversations about what's next. Mattias has daydreamed about opening something with T for a long time. Then the 3113 space became available, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity."

Restaurant ownership isn't Liu's only connection to the cocktail culture. He's a regular contributor to the web publication Serious Eats and is the author of "Craft Cocktails at Home: Offbeat Techniques, Contemporary Crowd-Pleasers, and Classics Hacked with Science."

"Kevin is one of the least-known cocktail bad-asses in town," Hägglund said.

And now the three of them - Liu, Hägglund and Leggett are coming together to make something of a super bar with The Jasper, which will be at 3113 W. Cary St. in the space that formerly housed Carey Burke Carpets.