1|Lisa Pittman
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THE BEVERAGE NETWORK’S 1| Lisa Pittman BARTENDER/DJ, STUDIO 54, NEW YORK CITY What is the most popular cocktail / drink at your bar? Bartenders Red Bull & Vodka. Which mixologists, living or dead, are to most inspirational to you and why? Watch I really admire all the up and comers because they are constantly taking it up By Jeffery Lindenmuth another notch. My inspiration are all the bartenders that participated in the 10 42 Below cocktail competition held in New Zealand! Which is your favorite classic cocktail What is your favorite thing about f you’re looking for the and what is your secret to mixing it? bartending? I love placing spins on classic recipes All the interesting people I meet every night. future fashion designers of with all the flavored vodkas that are now the world you might turn available - i.e. a traditional Cape Cod is Which original drink will be your legacy? I transformed into a Raspberry Cape Cod. Royal Bull Lisa's Nectar to Vogue. And you can count 3/4oz. Crown Royal 3/4oz. Bacardi Orange If you were not behind the bar, what 1/4oz. Amaretto 1/4oz. White Crème de on Vanity Fair to identify the would you be doing? Float Kaluha Coco Oscar winners of the next I am doing what I love! I have the oppor- One oz. shot dropped 4oz. of Orange Juice tunity to bartend and DJ at Studio 54. into a glass of Red Bull And a splash of 7up Served as a shot Served in a Highball decade. We too are captivated Life can’t get better than that. by the sparkle of rising stars. We’re proud to have our res- Peter Abbay ident master mixologist Dale 2| DeGroff bring you the latest in HEAD BARTENDER, THE BELMONT, WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA cocktail culture each month, What is the most popular cocktail / Manhattan is that I stir it, and in many ways his celebrity drink at your bar? not shake it, which would Ketel One and Rockstar. (a Red Bull like water it down. We also has rekindled an art and energy drink). garnish our Manhattans with homemade brandied inspired the mixologists of the Which mixologists, living or dead, are cherries. future. By polling our peers, we most inspirational to you? This father of my uncle’s wife, he’s 93. If you were not behind the bar, what identified ten of today’s young He worked as a bartender for 40 years would you be doing? bartenders to see where the at Carl Hopple’s restaurant on Baldwin, I would be making movies six months out Long Island. I worked there for him as a of the year, and trying to help people in profession is headed. And we bartender, too. I also like to talk to the need the other six months. Through guys over at Musso and Frank’s Screen Actors Guild, I volunteer with are delighted to report that the Steakhouse. They really know what Book Pal. I’m just trying to be a decent revolution of good taste and they’re doing. human being. great talent is alive and well. Where do you find inspiration for cre- What is your favorite thing about As in the 19th century, the best ating new drinks? bartending? When I’m dared to do something. I don’t By the end of the night, if I met a couple bartenders are still inventors, always succeed, but that’s my inspira- of nice people, and they’re going to entertainers, confidants, and tion. Or, if a customer comes into the bar come back, then it’s a success. and asks for something different. culinary masters. Here’s to bar- Which original drink will be your legacy? Which is your favorite classic cocktail The Belmont Breeze: Equal parts tending, and ten stars to watch and what is your secret to mixing it? mandarin orange vodka and pineapple in the next generation. The Manhattan. At The Belmont, we juice, a shot of 7-Up, dash of grenadine, make classic drinks. My secret to the garnished with an orange slice. “My inspiration Nadia Kovacova for creating new 3| drinks comes BARTENDER, BLUE GIN, WASHINGTON, D.C. from customers.” What is the most popular cocktail / drink at your bar? Raspberry Martini made with fresh raspberry puree, which tastes just like a creamsicle. Which mixologists, living or dead, are most inspirational to you and why? I would pick my dad, who has a vineyard south of Slovakia. He If you were not behind the bar, what would makes the best wines and sparkling wines. you be doing? If I were not behind the bar I would definitely be in the fash- Where do you find inspiration for creating new drinks? ion business. I love fashion, clothes, designing my own out- My inspiration for creating new drinks comes from customers. fits and accessories. Many times, people, especially women, come up to the bar and they don`t really know what to order, so I`ll try to figure What is your favorite thing about bartending? out what flavors they like to have — sweet, sour, fruity, bitter... My favorite thing about bartending is meeting new people. this is my inspiration, to make everybody as happy as I can. Bartenders are lucky, our work is to hang out and have a good time. I mean, other people are paying for that. Which is your favorite classic cocktail and what is your secret to mixing it? Which original drink will be your legacy? My favorite classic drink is vodka Martini made with premium My signature drink is Desire, made with vanilla vodka and a vodka, my favorite being Chopin. I make it shaken, no ver- splash of ginger ale, served up in a chilled Martini glass. As mouth, straight up… with three blue cheese olives. garnish, I add fresh, cut strawberries and at the end I pour Chambord slowly, so it stays at the bottom of the glass. made with El Dorado 15 Years Old, which is Gilles Bensabeur one of my absolute favorite rums, a dash of 4| orange bitters, a demerara brown sugar cube, stirred with all the love in the world, EVENT BARTENDER, RUBY GROUP LTD, zested with a large orange zest, and served NEW YORK, U.S.A. AND LONDON UK over cubed ice in a rocks glass. If you were not behind the bar, what What is the most popular cocktail / would you be doing? drink at your bar? I think I would be a rum producer. The most popular drink at the events I do is Ruby Wednesday: 2 oz. Ruby port, 1 What is your favorite thing about bar- shot Funkin raspberry puree, 1 tsp caster tending? sugar, 2 oz. cranberry juice. Dissolve the The best thing about bartending is to have sugar in the Port, shake the rest of the the perfect customer that comes to the bar ingredients together with ice and strain into and just wants to enjoy and appreciate my a tumbler glass filled with cubed ice. drinks, and chat all night about all sorts of things, in a very relaxed atmosphere. Which mixologists, living or dead are most inspirational to you and why? Which original drink will be Dimitri Lezinska and Andreas Masso. I Where do you find inspiration for creat- your legacy? started working behind the bar with these ing new drinks? Polish Strike: 2 oz. Zubrowka (Bison people in London some years ago. Their As I love cooking, and also always like mix- Grass flavored vodka), dash of apple devotion, passion and care for the bar are ing and discovering new flavors, I love play- schnapps, dash of apple Manzana liqueur, one of the reasons that really inspired me to ing around with the best spirits, liqueurs, 1 tsp of vanilla sugar, six white grapes and work in this industry. These guys are con- fruits and herbs available. 4 oz. of fresh apple juice. Muddle the stantly pushing the industry in their own way grapes in a mixing glass, combine all ingre- on an international scale, and in all these Which is your favorite classic cocktail? dients with ice and shake. Served over ice years, their love for the bar constantly My favorite drink is definitely a Treacle, an in a highball glass and garnish with a bit of grows. Old Fashioned with rum. It would have to be finely diced apple. “It is our philosophy here | Brian McGrory Which is your favorite classic cocktail 5 and what is your secret to mixing it? at Public never A good drink all starts with the right glass- to serve a drink BEVERAGE DIRECTOR, ware. You want to use a glass that has a nice PUBLIC, NEW YORK CITY round feel to it with a nice bit of weight in the with a straw. hand. The glass size should always be at Why ruin your What is the most popular cocktail / least 11 oz. Anything smaller is a shot. As far drink by drink- drink at your bar? as the drink, use a ton of ice, or even better The Clear Ginger Cosmopolitan. a block of ice. A generous amount of vodka ing it through a should be used; we have a heavy pour here straw when you Which mixologists, living or dead are at Public. The ratio between vodka and tonic can have a most inspirational to you and why? is also key, not too much tonic as you want The Chef De Bar Extraordinaire Adam to savor the taste of the vodka.