My First Bartending Job: Part One
In 2007 I landed a head chef job, after following a Craigslist ad, at a vegetarian restaurant in the Lower East Side. As I toured the basement kitchen with the owner and GM, chatting with them about this and that, shaking hands with the prep cooks, a couple of dire truths about the whole situation
Recent photos
-
New Cocktail: Hummingbird
This one came to me mid service like a lightening bolt between the eyes. One and done. No tweaks necessary. A bunch of people were at the bar and I shook this one out, tasted it with a spoon, and said to Denise, “I’m back, baby!” The people seated at the bar looked up from…
-
Office Chronicles: 1.8.23
Once upon a time, your friendly neighborhood bartender quit his gig waiting tables at the shabby but quaint Dogwood Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA, in order to seek out the good life. Holidays off, paid vacations, three day weekends, lunch breaks, working from home on occasion. Ah yes. Commuting on the train in the morning.…
-
Service Musings: 1.7.23
There’s a point in all our lives (at least I hope) where we look at what we’re doing and wonder what the hell happened. How did I get here? What twisted path led me to Santa Monica? A rich stew of regret and wonder, of awe and bewilderment. I’m just a dumbass kid from Vermont…
-
Cocktail: Shrinking Violet
1.6.23 Violet gets a a bad rap. Remember Roy G. Biv? The colors of the rainbow? Yeah, violet, not purple, dude. Purple is bad, it’s heavy handed, it’s gross, common, uncool. It’s been mishandled. Violet on the other hand is elegant, graceful. Have you not heard? Morose is chic. Less red, more blue. Poor thing’s…
-
Farmer’s Market Loot 1.5.23
Strange times. Southern California has been in a drought for as long as I remember. There was a moment when the populace seemed to care, when grass lawns disappeared and turned to sand and rock accompanied by succulents and cacti. When the billboards on the freeways asked people to conserve. All of that has turned…
The Aging Bartender 