"Ode To The Onion"

the Bermuda onion or the Egyptian onion. The best soup in the world is even named after an onion. Then there are others that fall into the onion family like scallions and leeks. All of these onions can be used in a variety of different ways. They can be sliced, diced, or even fried. They are enjoyed in just about every food you can imagine.
I love onions and all these are great but none of them compare to the COCKTAIL ONION!!! You see, there can be
a lot of confusion of which onion to use where, but not with the cocktail onion. Take a guess where it goes? That’s right, it goes in cocktails!!

"Cocktail Onions"

Has there ever been a garnish as straight forward as the cocktail onion? Lemons and limes don’t tell you their purpose, and neither do olives. The cocktail onion leaves no room for interpretation it, belongs in a cocktail.

A cocktail onion in a drink is commonly referred to as a Gibson. Truthfully I like it a whole lot more than a martini or a dirty martini. Like most martini’s though, Gibson’s started with gin and evolved into vodka. That’s how I like my cocktail onions, UP, Cold, and Tart.

A Vodka Gibson Martini is a pretty simple recipe: Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 oz vodka
* 1/2 oz dry vermouth
* 3 cocktail onions for garnish (I always use 3 because I’m superstitious)

Preparation:

Pour the ingredients into a shaker with ice.
Shake well.
Strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with the cocktail onion.

That’s it! Your ready to enjoy the most delicious onion on the market.

"Simply Delicious"

All this talk about cocktail onions is making me thirsty. I’m off to go make a cocktail. CHEERS!!!

A Half & Half is NOT a Black & Tan

"NYC"

Along with Las Vegas, New York might be one of the most competitive cities to get a bartending job in. I didn’t want to focus solely on getting a job with no experience because New York is a tough city even if you have experience. I do know a couple tricks of the trade that will have you bartending in New York in no time.

One great thing that makes it easier to get a job in New York is that there is a bar everywhere. It seems like there is one on every corner and if you’re in areas like SoHo, The East or West Village, Greenwich Village or the Lower East Side, there are bars in every other doorway. This is also the area of Manhattan that I am most familiar with. I have a good friend who owns a bar in the East Village and he gave me some pointers writing this post, but we’ll get to that later.

Now that we know there are bars on every corner, How do you go about getting a bartending job?

Tip #1- </font>If you walk around Lower Manhattan you’ll notice that fewer and fewer bars are open during the day. This can be a great way to get a job with or without experience. I asked my friend who owns a bar in that area what he would do if somebody offered to work for free in the afternoon. He said it would help if he knew or trusted the person, but he would certainly consider it. I thought about his response and it made perfect sense. What does he really have to lose?

Nothing!!! If he opens during the day and you start bringing in a crowd and you are both making money its a win-win. If you are wondering how to bring in a crowd during the day it certainly helps to have a following. If you don’t have a bar following start promoting your bar as a SOCCER BAR!! Most soccer matches that are any good are played in Europe and will be broad cast during the day in the United States. Get on social media and start telling people your the official “Manchester United” bar or whatever team.
If you can get a following and you are both making money you’ll be bartending at night in no time. (If that’s what you want) It doesn’t have to be soccer either although that is a great way.

Bonus!!!! My friend who is the bar owner said that if he didn’t hire you to open the bar in the day, that your dedication, enthusiasm, and drive, would definitely leave an impression. He said that he would certainly keep your resume and cell number and be in touch if something opened up. Again, you asking an owner is a win-win. If the owner decides not to open he’ll keep you in mind and that can be very powerful. He also mentioned that he would recommend you to other bars. Again this is really powerful because all these bar owners know each other. If he thinks you’re crazy, who cares? You Lost Nothing

Tip #2- Social Media- I alluded to social media in tip #1 and I’d use it to my advantage not only to get a following but to get a job. If you tell an owner that you have 2,000 Facebook friends that almost all live in the area and 500 Twitter followers that are associated with drinking, this can be very powerful. Bar owners used to be happy if their bartenders brought in a few friends that would drink. Ten was a lot. Do not under estimate the power of social media. Use it to your advantage. It’s good for other things besides seeing what someone you knew ten years ago is doing this weekend.

Tip #3- If social media isn’t your thing (it’s not everybody’s) learn to SPECIALIZE!!! What I mean by this is learn a bartending niche. The great thing about New York is that there are so many specialty bars.

There are wine bars, dessert bars, whiskey bars, classic cocktail bars, vodka bars, scotch bars and on and on. Become a pro in one of these niches and impress whoever is interviewing you when you apply. Show them how much knowledge you
have on a particular liquor.

You can also specialize your cocktail niche by restaurants. There is every kind of restaurant known to man in New York. One of my favorite is an Arepa joint that has more rum than you ever thought imaginable. They have over 100 rum based cocktails.

You can also be a beer expert and get a job at a German Beer Garden, or a tap house that specializes in craft brews. The possibilities of honing a niche are absolutely limitless in New York

Bonus!!!! I mentioned classic cocktails as a niche before and it certainly is. It’s also a niche that is hot in Manhattan and the rest of the country right now. Go get a great old book like The Craft of the Cocktail and hone your skills in the classic cocktail niche.
It also wouldn’t hurt if you brought some original recipes to your interview. This would surely impress. It shows that you are a cocktail enthusiast and just some regular schmo looking for a quick buck.

Tip #4- Boroughs-

"Brooklyn Bridge"

Unless you are dead set on working in Manhattan there is great opportunity in other boroughs, specifically Brooklyn. Brooklyn has seen a massive shift in demographics and gentrification over the past 15 years and it’s getting to be more and more like Manhattan. I actually prefer Brooklyn a lot of the times, especially on the weekends when every bar in Manhattan is packed. Some great places to look in Brooklyn are Williamsburg, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Ft. Greene and Greenpoint. They are very trendy areas with tons of great bars and restaurants and it’s just like being in Manhattan without the cabs.

"Gridlock"

I hope this article helps you get out there and find a job in New York. I probably should have waited to post this because I am moving back there in a few months. With these tips there won’t be any jobs left. Good Luck in your search and as always, feel free to comment or contact me if you have any questions or need any advice.

Country Clubs, like I stated earlier are busiest during the summer. You can take advantage of the Country Club busy seasons by applying at the right time. They often rely on younger college students returning home from school. They will do a lot of hiring in April and May and again in October.

"My Bartending View"

The Steps

These are not the only times to apply, just the ones that will give you the greatest advantages. And don’t worry if you aren’t a college student either. They rely on students applying because of the time of year. They will still hire older people. Use your age to your advantage. No matter what age if you get hired for summer employment, knock there
socks off and you’ll soon be working there permanently. One of the best ways to get an application noticed is to create a
cover letter and resume. A lot of people don’t think that these are necessary for a bartending job but they absolutely are. Especially Country Clubs

Here are some ways to get a job at a country club:

Starting the Process:

Get the names and e-mail addresses of the Food and Beverage Director at 5 Country Clubs you’d like to work at. If you cant find 5 get as many as possible. If you can’t find the e-mail address on their websites, call and ask for them. I know this sounds very forward and direct but it will work. Most times you call a country club you get a receptionist and they’ll gladly give you their name and email. Explain that you want to send a resume and cover letter.

What to Include:

Write a cover letter with a customer service story. Conflict resolution and stories about going “above and beyond” are great for country clubs because service is King. Stress in the cover letter that you know what it is like to have repeat business and you know how to give impeccable customer service. People spend a lot of money (hundreds of thousands of dollars sometimes) to be members at country clubs and these details are important. E-mail your cover letter and resume to the F&B Director as attachments. People get nervous about emails that include too much info that aren’t attachments.
It makes them feel secure that it’s not spam and it doesn’t have a virus. Also, it’s just generally more professional. In the e-mail body explain that you would love to have the opportunity to work there. Sound excited and anxious but not desperate. If your email is good hope the Food & Beverage Director will look over your resume. Be sure to include your phone contact information in the email as well. They may like your email and never open the attachments so you want at least a phone number and email address in the actually email.

The Next Day or Two:

If you have heard back that’s great, you are on your way. If you haven’t heard back call the F&B Director the next day.
DO NOT call during a busy time. Country Clubs are usually slowest between 2:00 and 4:00. Dinner hasn’t started yet and most of the golfers have already been in or are on the course. If you get in touch with the Food and Beverage Manager explain that you sent a resume and you are following up for an interview. If you don’t get in touch be persistent. Call the following day and resend the email a few days later.
I know this sounds forward but trust me it works. I have good friends who are F&B Managers and This is Their Advice.

Want to know a little fun fact too. If you are worried about doing all this even if there wasn’t an ad or job posting.
80% of All Jobs are not Posted

That’s right 80% of businesses and companies out there don’t post jobs. They hire through getting solicited and from referrals.

Finally:

Ace the interview. Easier said than done right. Treat it like any other interview. Arrive a few minutes early, prepared with a pen and folder/binder with your resume and paper to write on.
And you must dress to impress. Most people know if they are going to hire someone in the first 30 seconds they meet them. If you have No Experience stress your customer service skills. Remember this is a country club. A lot of clubs might like your lack of experience because they want to train you according to their customer service standards. Use anything you can to your advantage. Although I wrote about it in my “cons” down below you can turn the A.M. shifts into an advantage. Break into the business by volunteering to work morning shifts. Another great tool to come armed with is knowing some classic cocktails.

Country Clubs tend to have an older clientele that will drink manhattans, old fashioned, gimlets, tom collins and others. Stress that you know your drinks.

I don’t think that “pros and cons” is a good way to describe it, so I’m going to call them Advantages & Potential Downside. I say Potential because like I said earlier, something like the A.M. shift could be great for some people.

Advantages:

-Great Place to get Started. Not incredibly busy so it’s a great place to learn.
-Will learn both multiple aspects of bartending i.e. restaurant, lounge, banquets, weddings
-Training can be phenomenal. The club I worked out brought in people from the Ritz Carlton to train us on customer service and other things. This is something I write on resumes to this day and it has been mentioned by potential employers in interviews.

Making Contacts: This is awesome no matter who you are but especially great for college students. You will meet very influential people in your community who have a lot of influence and pull. I was offered multiple jobs while I was bartending at a country club.

Golf: I never played golf before I got a job but I started when I worked there because it was free. I was playing a PGA tour course for free. And we took
advantage too. We were out there just about every Monday on employee day. I still play to this day and absolutely love golfing now even though I don’t work there anymore.
Do Not Ask About This In the Interview I would bet that 9 out of 10 clubs allow their employees some sort of golf privilege. They might even mention it in the interview.

Good Money: Like most jobs this is extremely important. I made a great hourly wage and also pulled in extra money in tips. When we had a lot of weddings I was living the high life.

Prestige: A lot of other businesses, restaurants and bars especially, look at country clubs at having high prestige. I would go into the bars I hung out in and people would offer me jobs all the time. NO Kidding!!!! “When are you gonna quit that country club and come here”- I heard it all the time but why would I quit? I made great money, played free golf on a sick course, we were closed the month of January, and the view outside the bar window was the Sierra Nevada Mountains with Lake Tahoe a 20 min drive away.

Potential Downside:

Tips may be pooled. What this means is that there is a gratuity added onto every check, usually 18%, and you get paid a higher hourly wage. I got paid $16/hour. I loved it. Now, most members didn’t tip because they were getting charged 18% but a lot did. I would work 6-8 hour shifts and maybe walk with 40 or 50 bucks. Some bartenders don’t like this but it has upsides. One is that a lot of “traditional” bartenders aren’t applying at these places so it’s easier to get hired with no experience. I also loved it because I had a little cash at the end but not a couple hundred dollars. Ask
any bartender and they’ll all have stories of making $200 and going out after their shift. They wake up the next day and they got $20 left. The more you have the more you’ll spend. It also felt more like a “regular” job in the paycheck sense
because you are getting a paycheck every two weeks. Another upside is working banquets. You should still get paid a good hourly wage but the guest attending the wedding doesn’t know that. They think your getting $4.15 an hour, or whatever it is, and they are tipping. Double Bonus

Like I mentioned earlier there are early morning shifts. It really wasn’t too bad though from my perspective. Most of the early shifts were just giving guys some cans of beer to take out onto the course with them. And by early I mean 10am. It’s nothing too crazy.

Follow this advice and you will be well prepared to get a bartending job at a country club. It’s a great job and a great way to break into the bartending industry.

If you have any questions or need any advice feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment. Good luck!!!

I discovered this awesome new way to make videos. It’s a site called xtranormal.com. I’m sure you’ve seen some of their videos around. I had a lot of fun on it and I can’t wait to make some more, I got some great ideas (I think). I was just trying to make a simple one to get used to the website. It’s really user-friendly. Since this is a bar blog I made this one. Let me know what you think. What’s some funny stuff you’ve heard as a bartender?

Tuaca is an Italian Liqueur that has a somewhat thick consistency and a smooth rich taste.

"Tuaca"

It starts of with a hint of vanilla and its smoothness continues getting slightly sweet. It’s truly remarkable how extraordinary the whole experience of drinking Tuaca is. That’s Why I Love It!!!

From when it first hits your lips till it’s in your belly it burst with lemony citrus flavors all wrapped up in vanilla. The thing that I like best about Tuaca is that there are so many ways to drink it.

Neat- Tuaca is a great liqueur to just enjoy neat in a brandy glass. I’m imagining a glass of it right now coming of the ski slope on a cold winter day. It warms your bones with its sweet vanilla-y bouquet.

UP- Chilling Tuaca can really make its flavors shine. It’s personally my favorite way to drink it. It can be enjoyed in a chilled martini glass and also goes great with a splash of Amaretto.

On The Rocks- See Above

Shots- Tuaca was originally introduced to me in a shot and it’s still one of my favorites. Although I’m a little older now, the shots happen less, and on the rocks with a lemon twist happens more, but none the less here are two great recipes.

#1 Dirty Tuaca- in this shot it has nothing to do with dirty as in olive juice. Not really sure how the name got started but that’s how I learned it.

In a shaker put 1 part  Tuaca and 1/2 part Apple Pucker for however many shots you desire. Shake vigorously and pour into a shot glass. That’s it! Trust me it’s awesome. And by the way, I was in a bar once and asked if they knew what a Dirty Tuaca was. The bartender said he did so I ordered a round. Well, he made them like it sounds, with olive juice. We didn’t want to waste good alcohol so we drank them. Not a good idea.

#2 This shot is ridiculously similar to the last but calls for a 1/2 part of Grape Pucker. It’s called an Otter Pop. It is called that because it taste exactly like, remember those ice pops you’d get as a kid that came as a liquid in the plastic sleeve with a dozen or two in a box. They were really long and delicious. Well this taste just like the purple one of those.

I just introduced you to a little bit of my college days when there were lots of Dirty Tuaca’s and Otter Pops being poured. It really is a great liqueur that can be enjoyed a variety of ways. I’m glad I was introduced to it, even if it was as shots. I’ve stuck with it and really grew to enjoy a lot of different ways. I hope you all get a chance to enjoy any way possible and please send some recipes of your favorite way of enjoying  Tuaca.

"Vintage Liquor Bottles"

In this post I just wanted to share a little hobby of mine. I like to collect “antique” or vintage liquor bottles. I actually shouldn’t even call them bottles because it’s really anything that is old and has to do with booze. This picture is a small sample of what I have, some of my favorites.

"Vegas"

If you’ve read my blog before, you know that I was a bartender in Reno and Vegas and I absolutely love the state of Nevada. I found the Reno slot machine in an antique/thrift store, and a few months later found one from Vegas. I had to buy it. There’s also a couple of glasses I found that are vintage Las Vegas. I saw these in a store called The Sleepy Poet. It’s one of those stores that you go to on a Saturday afternoon and walk around for hours. (I do at least) They have tons of great stuff from vintage liquor items to awesome home furnishings.

"Reno"

"Rain Out?"

I just wanted to share a little hobby of mine. If anybody comes across a great bottle or some memorabilia, pick it up if you like it. If nothing else it makes great decoration. And if you really don’t want to display it, send it to me, I’d be more than happy to share it with the world. Hope you enjoyed the snapshots of a little hobby of mine. What do y’all collect?

"Best Bloody Mary"

I was at a bar/restaurant this morning having brunch and they had a “make your own bloody mary” bar. I absolutely love that idea. The establishment asked me not to mention their name but I had to share this picture of the best spicy Bloody Mary.

What I love about Bloody Mary’s is that no two are the same. Every bartender in the world has a different recipe and everybody who drinks them likes them a certain way. I tend to like mine thick and spicy. Lots of tabasco and horseradish. As you can see in this picture above there are pepper flakes and horseradish floating around. Something that tends to annoy me is when bars don’t shake the ingredients well.  A good shake mixes the ingredients

makes it thicker, and insures that the vodka isn’t just sitting on the bottom. You always have a nasty sip when it just sits stagnant. Make your Bloody Mary’s with pride and you’ll keep the customers coming back. As we know repeat customers and good drinks = great tips $$$

Recipe: Fill a pint glass with ice and add 3 dashes of Worcestershire. Next add 4-6 dashes of Tabasco. (This will ensure spiciness-most places probably just do 2-3)
Next add Half a bar spoon of horseradish. (again, the more the spicier)
Follow by adding a pinch of Kosher Salt and 3 turns of ground black pepper.
Next add a Splash of Olive Brine. (juice) This is my specialty ingredient. I found that a lot of bars use lemon juice. But that’s what makes a Bloody great, everyone is different.

Now add 1 and 1/2 ounces of Vodka. I usually just use the well. I always find it funny when people order a Grey Goose bloody. What is in a Bloody Mary makes it good, not the vodka.

Fill the glass with Tomato Juice (Clamato for the best Bloody Caesar eh!)

Shake Vigorously for 10 seconds and Garnish with a celery stalk and bleu cheese stuffed Spanish Queen Olive.

Enjoy!!!! The Blood Mary is a classic cocktail and fantastic with breakfast, lunch, and has been thought to cure hangovers. Let me here what you all think about my recipe and feel free to share yours.

"What you'll need"

My first blog post of an original recipe is the Dering Harbor!!! It’s called the Dering Harbor because that is the harbor that surrounds the beautiful Shelter Island. My fellow bartender Harry and myself came up with this recipe. To be completely honest this was five years ago and I couldn’t remember the original but I improvised and this is the Dering Harbor. It’s a fantastic cocktail with a fresh taste, that is good any time of the year, but especially the summer. It’s a simple drink to make, but serve it, and your guests will think a lot of preparation went into making it.

Step One Place 6-8  grapes in a rocks glass and add one packet of sugar in the raw. Cover the grapes with a 1/2 ounce of Cointreau. You really just want to wet the grapes so there is something to muddle.

"Muddle"

Step 2 After you have given it a nice muddle and the sugar has been crushed and mixed with the grapes add crushed ice and 1 and a 1/2 ounces of Belvedere Pomarancza (Orange)

Step 3 Give all the components a quick flip into a shaker but keep the grapes on the top, so that when it is put back into the rocks glass they remain at the bottom. You just want to mix the ingredients quick.

Step 4 Garnish with a lemon and grape and enjoy!! It truly is a refreshing cocktail that taste great any time of the year.

****Please Note*** that this cocktail looks a lot “greener” in the pictures. I am in no way a professional photographer or try to pretend to be.

I’m really proud of this original cocktail and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

"Dering Harbor"

Cheers!!!