Audrey Saunders was born in 1962[2] to Swiss parents, and grew up in Port Washington, on the north shore of Long Island in New York state.
She grew up appreciating the cocktail world from the Thin Man series, where detectives Nick and Nora Charles solved crimes while enjoying gin martinis.
[2] It closed in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an expiring lease, a likely rent hike, an expensive plumbing issue, and other obstacles that come along with operating a bar in New York City.
[9] At the Pegu Club, Saunders trained many people now considered some of the top bartenders, including Jim Meehan of Please Don't Tell and Phil Ward, of Mayahuel.
[11] Hess and Saunders are developing the Ravenwood Beverage Institute, a retreat dedicated to the craft cocktail movement, on their property in rural Washington.