BARTENDER STORYJust look pretty, sell as many frozen drinks as possible, and sell an extra shot or two of booze,” my boss instructed me. This is where my mixology journey began, like all great things, in sleazy obscurity. At the age of twenty-one, I was hired as a bartender for a daiquiri bar on The Las Vegas Strip. Originally from a small village in Russia, I had no clue what comprised a Rum and Coke or Gin and Tonic, except perhaps the Coke. It fascinated me how different a blue, red, or yellow slushy tasted, depending on what spirit was added to it. I was instantly hooked on the entire scene.
BARTENDER STORYAt the age of 14 my family started making wine and I dove head first into the industry. I thought it was so unique. Over time, I fell in love with it more and more. There was something so amazing about being able to tell a story through a bottle. It was like tasting a piece of history. When I realized that correlation between wine and spirits as being a way to tell history, I gravitated towards spirits. I’ve always been the creative type, but I’m a terrible painter or artist in that respect. I love putting things together to create art, whether it’d be a DIY decorative candle holder or a batch of cookies. So that translated to the world of mixology; finding things that fit together seemingly seamlessly to create something exquisite. Being able to combine flavors, creativity and history, that’s what made me want to become a bartender.
BARTENDER STORYMy uncle had a bar and when I was eight years old I enjoyed making coffee for the regulars. I was very tiny so my uncle and my cousin gave me a little stool to reach the coffee machine. I felt like I was on stage in the middle of a theatre and I loved it.
BARTENDER STORYMy friends and I had the “great” idea of opening a bar when we were young, just for a laugh and to see how it goes. That project went really wrong. As young as we were and without any experience, we lost a lot of money in the beginning and at the same time, realizing it would be our passion. In the end, four out of the six of us that opened the bar became professional bartenders and a DJ. After some years we took more and more time and effort to improve our bar and to determine what the clients wanted. Without any experience, we started to walk in this industry without any advice while learning from our mistakes, there were a lot. I think that situation made me become the bartender I am today. I’m always looking for perfection and contact with the customer, as well as never stopping to innovate and create new cocktails, events, and trying to make every customer happy, giving them the chance to learn something new about the industry.
BARTENDER STORYIt’s hard to tell what or who inspired me to choose bartending as my profession. I probably became passionate in making drinks gradually, maybe almost by chance but from others. Colleagues can really be the best teachers, and in my case they definitely were. I also study on my own, updating myself constantly by doing professional courses and schools. You never stop learning and just as in life, you learn something from everybody from guests to colleagues, friends or managers. Reading bartending and chef’s books as well as watching videos and documentaries, motivates you for sure. The bartending industry has expanded and developed in the last years, the competition is tough and becoming global, so it is crucial to be motivated and up to date on trends.
BARTENDER STORYDriven by my curiosity about the unknown and by my crazy love for art, I found out the way to communicate through the bar. With a cocktail you are able to communicate everything; a sensation, a song or a painting.
BARTENDER STORYSince I was young, I’ve always wanted to embrace new cultures and travel across the world, so I decided to become Bartender. As a bartender, I learn a lot of new things related to other cultures while talking to customers, colleagues and also by studying and discovering new products.
BARTENDER STORYAfter graduating from High School I chose to throw myself into the world of hospitality while waiting to attend University. I started at Hotel La Pineta (Acciaroli, Italy) thanks to the General Manager, Raffaella Maiorino, who launched me into this world and taught me everything. I took the Barback job alongside the Bar Manager at the time, Giuseppe Pepe. Seeing him do flair, cocktails, and entertaining people officially made me fall in love with this job!
BARTENDER STORYWell, I began to approach this world at the age of 19. After school I wanted to do a job that could stimulate me and at the same time have direct contact with people. I have always had a problem with shyness and I immediately thought that this work could help me a lot in fighting this problem and that’s what happened. I started for fun but I fell in love almost immediately and since that day I have never left the bar.
BARTENDER STORYI started to work in hospitality thanks to my best friend from childhood, Marek Stochl. He recommended me to an American restaurant many years ago, where I was initially a waiter, without even knowing what a Margarita was. Back then he started to work in a classic cocktail bar and I always liked the way that these bars looked and worked. Visiting him at work made me curious to study spirits and classic cocktails and later on I even started to work behind the bar myself at that same restaurant. That was the point where I realised I needed to start to work in a classic cocktail bar as well.
BARTENDER STORYAs a barback at The Dorrance, I prepped syrups, juices, stocked and then jumped in to make the cocktails if it got very busy. In pastry I prepped and during service I combined all the ingredients together in the final plated dessert. Just like with pastry I felt like a bartending composer combining all of the flavorful components together as one. The creativity and knowledge to be discovered and a rush from being in front of the guests while executing every element to provide a memorable experience inspired me to become a craft cocktail bartender.
BARTENDER STORYTen years ago my thirst for new experiences led me to London, so I decided to move to England. The fact that I could not speak English didn’t scare me, I didn’t have a plan. I quickly realised that I loved the joy that people had when they came together over a drink. Since then, my passion developed and I began to understand the “Push, Pull” factors. Unforgettable cocktails are definitely a “Pull” factor as my customers were pulled back by my creations! I loved London immediately, I was really impressed by the thousands of bars and restaurants in Central London. You can name any cuisine and London will have it. The diversity and possibilities made me excited and I wanted to learn and develop.
BARTENDER STORYSince I was a child I have always been passionate about this world. I remember when my father took me to a bar for the first time and I was immediately struck by how the bartender interacted with customers, so I promised my father that I would do that job even though he hoped that from his son, he would get a doctorate and not sacrifice every night for such a tiring job.
BARTENDER STORYThis is quite a long story about finding inspiration to become a bartender. It’s actually unexpected for me to pursue this career path because there isn’t anyone in my family who belongs to this industry. One of my friends suggested studying Hotel Management. His suggestion really impressed me because the faculties at the Hotel Management College taught me that completing this study could enable me to easily travel out of my country and explore various opportunities. That prospect really appealed to me.
BARTENDER STORYI studied art, so I love creativity at 360°. The bar, from my point of view, is art to the maximum expression. Unfortunately I stopped studying for family reasons and I have had the good fortune to work since I was 16 in a small bar in my city. That is where they gave me the good fortune to discover this fantastic world!
BARTENDER STORYThe inspiration came from back in the day, when my grandfather was a bartender. At that time he owned his own restaurant/bar near the beach in Algarve. It was actually a very busy place and I was seven years old watching him doing cocktails, coffees and serving beers at high speed. In the meantime, I was washing and drying the glasses and the bar material.
BARTENDER STORYThe inspiration to become a bartender it`s been marring the lifestyle of be a bartender. Since I was young, being a bartender gave me the real joy of living, having the opportunity to travel to deliver emotions through drinks. The inspiration to become a bartender has been to marry into the lifestyle of being a bartender. Since I was young, being a bartender gave me the real joy of living, having the opportunity to travel to deliver emotions through drinks.
BARTENDER STORYBefore becoming a bartender I did many things like joining the army, sailing ships and I was an area manager with a big company but I was not satisfied with my work. Then one day I saw the movie Cocktail with Tom Cruise, and after that I decided I would like a bartending job and that I would be a good bartender and enjoy it like Tom Cruise. The main thing that inspired me was the glamour of working behind the bar, showing your own skills in freestyle and everyone trying to approach the bartenders in the bar or restaurant.
BARTENDER STORYWell, I believe it was since I was starting to study Food and Beverage Diploma in Hotel School in Sri Lanka, just after my Advance Level Exam (1988). Then I was inspired by my cousin brother who runs a restaurant/bar in the city of Negombo where lots of tourists hang around and my basic cocktail-making skills had started. Somehow I was keen on learning about beverages day by day while I was working at my cousin brother’s place.
BARTENDER STORYI think that being a bartender is way more than what people think it is nowadays. It’s a lifestyle, it’s studying and it’s detail-catching everything everyday. The knowledge and the absolute elegance of this job has got me involved since I was more or less 16 years old. The power and the skills of creating something mouth-watering for my guest was, back then, a unique feeling which was indescribable for me. Pleasing different palates and accommodating guests has always been a sort of great sensation for me and that’s maybe what inspired me to be a bartender for the rest of my life. The feeling of giving a special experience just with a sip.
BARTENDER STORYI’ve asked myself this question many times and I still ask myself, especially when things get difficult or even just to get some self motivation. Many different people have inspired me, and I always thank all of them for that. One of them was my grandfather, because he worked his whole life in the hospitality industry, he taught me not to forget to smile (however, sometimes I do forget it). The final decision to become a bartender happened by chance. The first time I had been behind the bar it felt like home, I felt happy and proud and then I thought: this must be the job I want to do.. If you wake up in the morning, and you can’t think of anything but to create new cocktails and think all about this job first. Then you’re supposed to be a bartender
BARTENDER STORYI was inspired by my mentor and friend, Stefano Ricci. He taught me the basic concepts and techniques to start this job as best I can.
BARTENDER STORYWell, to be honest I was 16 when I started to tend the bar and it was the family business. What inspired me to become a bartender has been to chat and see people enjoying the time having drinks. Most of the time people in the bar are happy and surrounded by happiness and that makes me happy too. Whatsmore, you create such lovely connections all around the world which is something incredible.
BARTENDER STORYMaybe it was because of the art of making drinks, or maybe because it’s super fun to work in a bar. It all just comes from my heart and my soul.
BARTENDER STORYI’m from Sicily and I was inspired to become a bartender by my uncle because he worked in hospitality his whole life, and when I was a little boy I used to go to his workplace and watch whatever he used to do. I was so fascinated by his work but I didn’t choose to study hospitality at school, I chose agroalimentary because I love the plant world and then I combined my studies with my passion and I became a bartender with good knowledge about plants.
BARTENDER STORYThe aspiration to engage with a new world through innovative approaches to presenting and serving customers.
BARTENDER STORYWhen I was at high school my teacher has put on a movie, Cocktail, 1988 by Roger Donaldson, with Tom Cruise (Brian Flanagan) hence my second nickname Brian. While everyone in the classroom was just enjoying that little time of unwinding, I couldn’t take my eyes off from the screen, one of the most epic scenes I remember is the Bartender’s speech. I always wanted to jump on the bar and do one (later in the years I did it, bourbon included with way less impact than that). The mixing of different tastes, the sync of the moves and the discipline behind the classics, the thing that there was a code to follow and was Universal, everyone even speaking different languages could actually speak the same thing, was, is so fascinating that i moved every step in the bar since following the rule that there was no higher authority inside the walls of a bar then the bartender, he/she knew the people and their habits and darks as no one else did, relatives included. Once more I got fascinated by this, then I found out about how much of history could actually be expressed by a dram that no the most sincere of the history book could express, so I started reading the labels and then the books I could find about those labels and bottles. Then it became my profession even though I studied something else at the UniversitY.
BARTENDER STORYWhat inspired me were the herbs from my garden and subsequently the Bartender Academy I did in London.
BARTENDER STORYStarted in Italy, in the club where I worked. I was so fascinated by the brilliant skills of my “mentor” at the time. That’s how it started, throwing bottles into the air.
BARTENDER STORYMy inspiration was born when I was a child, when I was at the bar with my dad and I saw all those coloured bottles, not knowing what they were. I have been curious for years, until I had a chance to study them and answer all my questions while falling in love of this amazing world.
BARTENDER STORYI found inspiration while attending hospitality school, initially drawn to learning cooking and aspiring to become a chef. However, my interests quickly expanded to encompass a passion for beverages, refined service, and exquisite hospitality. From the outset, I was captivated by the world of spirits and sought to deepen my understanding.
BARTENDER STORYI got the inspiration to become a bartender by accident. I started working out of necessity as a bartender in a bathhouse in my country during the summer season for a few years, while I was finishing my studies. Then by chance even during the weekend in the winter period, and day after day I noticed that this made me happy. I was able to do the job well, the customers were happy, remembered me, and I was able to remember everything about them. Therefore I asked myself, “why not do more?” and I started studying and doing courses. Now it has become my job.
BARTENDER STORYGaining people’s trust and becoming familiar to them has always been my first goal. Second to that, it’s the art of mixing ingredients. Creativity, innovation and the ability to understand just through a conversation, what mix might suit best for your guest. Getting to know the personality of your guest from a short exchange of words is something that only a few professionals consider the most important skill in this industry.
BARTENDER STORYThe number of bars in my village in Sicily is insane and none of them were well equipped or had qualified personnel. Once a friend opened a bar I jumped in and gave all of myself to bring the bar to high levels, then I moved to London.
BARTENDER STORYI think, it was like a vocation, previously I worked in constructions until I decided to try a more exciting job jumping behind an hometown’s bar and I took it very well! In that day I fell in love with people, people gives me energy and great emotions! That makes me love bartending so much that Im living for it.
BARTENDER STORYWhen I was 20, a friend of mine pushed me to do “American Bartender Course” with him in my hometown of Pescara. I had never been interested in bartending, but after my first day in this Bartending School I found my passion for the bar, spirits and hospitality.
BARTENDER STORYI started out in the kitchen of a luxury hotel with my dad. However, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted even though I appreciate the experience. I wanted to be out there- outside the cage that was the kitchen and go around to greet people, as that was and still is who I really am. I enrolled myself to a cocktail bartending course, then landed a position as a waiter in a cocktail bar that I happened to have found in a Melbourne City’s Cocktail Bars Guide, to which I only stayed for as little as three months before I moved onto a new place. Those three months somehow, magically, followed me everywhere I went for the next three years. The fact that it had given me a goal to pursue, friends to reach out to overseas, and a few mentors with nothing but true words of wisdom, it was like everything had happened for a reason. After three months I moved across the road to an Asian-themed Cocktail Bar, in which I was given a few lessons on flavors, workflow, people, and also the opportunity to travel to Sydney. Back then to me this was like moving up to another world of drinks. On my 21st birthday I got completely smashed, and somehow ended up posting a ‘looking for job’ ad online. To my surprise I received a bit of attention the next morning. I remember writing something like, “Funny Asian looking for bar work, don’t need much, just enough food to feed my learning”. At the end of the year, I packed my bags and went up to Sydney to learn at one of the best cocktail institutions a young boy could ask for at the time, Palmer & Co. Looking back retrospectively, I truly appreciate every second and every single person there, for their wise contribution to who I am today. I then moved to London after a one and half year stint at Palmer & Co. With a little help from a friend there, (leading to another friend of another friend of another friend) I landed a position at a prestigious hotel bar in Mayfair. However, it was only a short six-month experience until I decided to take a little break in Vietnam teaching and sharing.
BARTENDER STORYAfter I finished university, I did a summer job as a waiter on Costa Dorada in Cataluna, Spain. One day I ended up behind the bar. Only cocktails we would be doing were Mojitos, Caipirinhas and Margaritas. It was more about beers, wine and mixers but I loved the pace of work, all that rush around. That was the moment I realised it would be fun to work behind the bar instead of the office. New goal was set.
BARTENDER STORYNationality : Italian Occupation: Head Bartender Workplace: Rockwell, London UK Favorite Cocktail: Martinez Favorite Spirit: Scotch Whisky
