Comments on: Josey Packard

By: The Lady Is A Tramp:Irma La Douce

The Lady Is A Tramp:Irma La Douce — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:28:40 +0000

[...] were introduced to it by one of the best bartenders we’ve ever met, Josey Packard of Drink in Boston. (If you reading this, Josey, please let us know next time you come to New [...]

By: ljclark

ljclark — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:58:54 +0000

Wow, Ike, I’ve never thought of comparing a Gibson to tiramisu, but sounds like a plan!

By: Ike Dvorkin

Ike Dvorkin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:46:26 +0000

Have Josie whip you up a classic gibson….no vodka…preferibly Beefeater’s with one to three large, crisp, pickled onions. Only a nano dash of vermouth. Rivals the finest tiramisu on the Amalfi Coast.

By: ljclark

ljclark — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:45:03 +0000

Sorry for stealing Josey away from you, Colin. OK, not really. Well, maybe a little.

By: Colin

Colin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:57:54 +0000

Josey was tending bar the first time I visited the Alembic in SF. Her skill and dedication to crafting perfect cocktails was evident. Been to the Alembic many times since, hoping she was tending the bar. Now I know why I haven’t seen her again. Good for Boston, bad for SF.

By: Arnold

Arnold — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:39:05 +0000

My example was better than my quickly typed description–financial district and grad students stereotypes do not often lend themselves (to me, anyway) to modesty or critical self-examination….that’s all. Plus there is that whole “Hub of the Universe” thing…

Doesn’t mean I still don’t love drinkin’ in this town.

By: ljclark

ljclark — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:35:05 +0000

Thanks, Arnold. I’m sure most drinkbostonians would wholeheartedly agree with your bar choices.

For the record, a definition of self-deprecating: “modest about or critical of oneself, esp. humorously.” In other words, very different from “laid back and relaxed.” Bostonians are certainly not known to be laid back and relaxed, but we are often self-deprecating. We’re a critical bunch, especially when it comes to ourselves.

By: Arnold

Arnold — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:39:21 +0000

I’m sure her colleagues and friends are wonderful and exhibit self-deprecating humor, I certainly wasn’t trying to say such people don’t exist in the area. Just that the rep the area has does not lean toward laid back and relaxed (like either coastal Portland, Seattle, or Austin), but a little more buttoned up and slightly high strung. Think either financial district worker or Harvard/MIT/Tufts grad student.

While I avoid certain bars because I’m either too old to hang out with undergrads with fake ids or _________ (fill in the blank with any particular crowd that may not be your first choice), those are also the places that also have other attributes that would turn me off. Say a hundred different types of flavored vodka, but no rye whiskey. Or an “Irish pub” that pours a crappy Guinness.

If I were to go through my bank card receipts, I think my top four drinking haunts would be (in no particular order): Silvertone, Atwood’s, Plough and Stars, and Hungry Mother. With varied Harvard Square locales due to proximity of my day job near the top in terms of money spent. There is also the next group, which I don’t get to as much either due to transportation issues or they are too crowded when I’m able to visit them, etc. This would include Green Street, Craigie, Druid, Brendan Behan and James Gate.

I was first attracted to them for beverage choices/excellence (and often food as well), and go back because my top four also tend to have wonderful people working there (not that the others don’t as well). Atmosphere is third, and that of course is influenced by the crowd. And the places I mentioned tend to get varied customers.

Didn’t mean for my off-the-cuff comment to insult the drinkers of the greater Boston area. I have found people I’ve met in bars to be smart and more than one person who has grown up here has told me that locales tend not to be very opening and friendly at first, like in LA, but once you get to know them the friendship and kindness runs deep.

By: ljclark

ljclark — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:55:32 +0000

Yeah, Joe, I know: yawn.

Arnold, I’m curious: what are your drinking haunts around town, and what do you like about them?

By: Joe Niedbala

Joe Niedbala — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:04:54 +0000

I’ve been lucky enough to have known Josey back in her days of RAWK with Chelsea on Fire and, of course, now in her current talent of recognition. No matter what this woman is doing she approaches with a head-on passion, sense of humor, and boundless energy and talent. It’s great to have her back home in Boston!

BTW, the whole last call ritual- is she STILL doing that ol’ gag?