We first met Jeff as the wise-cracking, bespectacled bartender at Rosebud. Always quick with a joke and with the perfect pairing of wine or handmade specialty cocktail, Jeff has been manning the bar at Rosebud in Virginia-Highland for years now... even before Rosebud was "Rosebud" (note: it used to be a Food 101). We sat down with Jeff to get the scoop on how he got to where he is and where all the good booze is found around town.

SCOUT: What's your background?
JEFF: I started my restaurant tenure in the back of the house washing dishes and sauteing seafood. I soon realized that I could run my mouth if I moved to the other side (the dark side, if you will). I started to form wine lists when I was still under age and never looked back.

SCOUT: How did you end up at Rosebud?
JEFF: I moved here to go to art school and was driving through the Highlands. I spotted what was, at the time, Food 101. I applied and got the job and started making the wine and cocktail lists a few years later. Four and half years later, I’m still around.

SCOUT: Favorite part of Atlanta?
JEFF: As cliché as it sounds, I love the Atlanta Braves. I am a sucker for baseball. Go Braves! I also really enjoy the direction that Atlanta restaurants have moved in as far as using local products and how the cocktail scene has evolved. It's our (Atlanta's) time!

SCOUT: Favorite venue to kick back and relax with a glass of your favorite wine?
JEFF: Um... my house. Tacos and a good wine. Mmmmm...Tacos.

SCOUT: Favorite "curious find" in Atlanta?
JEFF: I don't know that these places are "curious finds" but they may not get the attention the deserve. 1.) Hayakawa Sushi House is quite possibly the best sushi in the ATL. Another Buford Highway gem. 2.) Dynamic Dish, all veggies that are "all good".

SCOUT: Favorite food and wine pairing?
JEFF: I really fancy a good rose with a grilled pork chop.

SCOUT: Best local place to buy wines in Atlanta?
JEFF: There are a few places that I like to buy wines. Halls Fine Wines, Highland Wine and Crystal across the street from Rosebud (Skip knows his French wines), and Buddy’s... a gas station with decent wines, two blocks away. Now that's money!

SCOUT: Not to mention, it’s open 24 hours. Good wine yet too busy to fix the sign. We like that. Now obviously there's more than just drink pourin' to Jeff Jackson; tell us something people don’t know about you?
JEFF: Although a lot of my creative drive is directed toward the restaurant, I do still have a passion for creating art (mainly photography... I recently and reluctantly just went digital).

SCOUT: Alright. It's officially 5 o’clock somewhere. So give us your one shameless plug for Rosebud... and any future projects.
JEFF: I do a wine tasting every Thursday called "Drink With Jeff." It’s generally three wines that I pair with cheese for $15. I like to take a blue collar approach to the tastings, and by that I mean super unpretentious. I drink with the tasters. The running joke with the staff is that the name should be changed to Drunk with Jeff, although that never happens (me getting drunk that is).

Wanna get drunk, err - drinks with Jeff? Check out Rosebud in Virginia Highland and ask for the bespectacled man behind the bar.