March 25th, 2007
When I was a brewer at the Cambridge Brewing Co., a brewery-restaurant in Kendall Square, two brothers named Todd and Jason Alstrom came into the bar, ordered all of the beer styles we made, and started taking notes. This was around 1997. The year before, the Alstroms had started a website where they and other enthusiasts could discuss and critique the dozens of styles and thousands of brands of beer brewed throughout the world. Ten years later, their site, BeerAdvocate.com, has attracted 100,000+ users around the U.S. and beyond. It is the world’s largest beer community. And the fact that it started here in Boston both reflects and feeds this city’s status as a craft-beer capitol. If you want evidence, check out beermapping.com’s greater Boston map of beer-friendly bars, restaurants, stores, etc.
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March 23rd, 2007
Todd Maul, who tends bar at the newly re-vamped Rialto in Cambridge’s Charles Hotel, emailed me recently, asking, “Could you do a posting on bartending books?” Specifically, he was curious about which books other ‘tenders around town found most useful. I decided to add to Todd’s idea and ask whether any of Boston’s libation gods and goddesses recommended a particular bartending school.
An informal, off-the-cuff survey yielded the following: 1) Dale DeGroff, Jerry Thomas (1825-1885), and Charles Baker (1895-19??) were the first-, second- and third-most cited bar-book authors; 2) bartending school is generally not recommended — but it’s not entirely dismissed. Survey respondents were Jackson Cannon of Eastern Standard, Brother Cleve (Boston-based cocktail historian), John Gertsen of No. 9 Park, Sean Holland of The Independent, Todd Maul of Rialto, Ben Sandrof of Noir and Max Toste of Deep Ellum. (Thanks, guys.)
Bartending books/authors
* More than one citation
Stanley Arthur – Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em
Charles Baker – Gentlemen’s Companion (aka Jigger, Beaker and Glass: Drinking Around the World) *
Harry Craddock – The Savoy Cocktail Book
Dale DeGroff – The Craft of the Cocktail *
David Embury – The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks *
Ted Haigh – Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails
Paul Harrington – Cocktail: The Drinks Bible For The 21st Century
Stan Jones – Jones Complete Bar Guide
Playboy Magazine – The Playboy Bartender’s Guide
Gary Regan – Joy of Mixology *
Ted Saucier – Bottoms Up *
Eugene Shewmaker – The International Bartender’s Guide
Jerry Thomas – How to Mix Drinks, A Bartender’s Guide *
Jack Townsend and Tom Moore McBride – The Bartender’s Book
Cannon likes Thomas for “the roots, philosophy of the trade and obscure recipe and ingredient info,” David Embury for “recipes and culture,” Gary Regan for “theory of drink relations, technique (watch his recipes though, not always sound)” and Dale Degroff for “recipe, technique and hospitality.” Holland likes The International Bartender’s Guide because, “For me, it’s organized in a way ‘my’ brain understands. I use it on the job for cocktail recipes I’m unsure of.” Maul notes that Bottoms Up has “some cool illustrations, a bit on the erotic side, but well done.” And Toste says he likes Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em for its “historical reference and background on cocktails, Craft of the Cocktail for its modern take on classic cocktails and history of barmanship, and the Playboy Bartender’s Guide for its huge volume of recipes.”
Bartending school
Cleve: “Go work for Misty (Kalkofen), John, Jackson, Ben or John Byrd.”
Cannon: “I don’t think bartending school is the way the go. I always recommend getting any job that is open in a bar/restaurant that you admire. Watch and learn from the bartenders and study [Degroff, Embury, Regan, Thomas].”
Gertsen: “I really don’t have much experience with bartending schools. I met recently with teachers from Johnson and Wales, and it seems like they are launching a great mixology program there. And finally a quote from the late Max Allen Jr. (Bartender Emeritus of the Seelbach Hotel): ‘It takes five years to learn how to bartend; the first two to learn what to do; the second two to learn what not to do, and the last year to learn how to do it nicely.'”
Holland: “Bartending schools?… well, never been. There was once a woman at [the Independent] who insisted that an Alabama Slammer was made with Absolut vodka… and she told me that she should know because she went to bartending school. If anything, I would recommend someone OPEN a bartending school — seems a lot of people go who never end up bartending.”
Maul: “Yes, I did go to bartending school. It was in 1992 in Albany, NY. I don’t remember what the name was or what it cost… I’m not sure I would recommend sending anyone to bartending school. I think picking up Sundays or that one ‘no one wants it shift’ as a bartender is the best way to get your foot in the door.”
Sandrof: “I went to the Professional Bartending School of New England. It was a week-long course consisting of five classes. I would not say that I consider it a complete waste of time, but I could teach someone all the info in a day if they wanted to learn. What it was good for, however, was allowing you to become familiar with bottles, speed pours and tools. We also had to memorize the top 30 drinks, and that came in handy. When someone asked me to make them a martini or a margarita, I did not have to stare back blankly. IT DID NOT, however, help to get me a job. I found that most people in the restaurant industry do not consider a bartending course important at all. It doesn’t hold a candle to actually having experience behind a bar. It just seems to be one more credential on a resume.”
Toste: “I don’t recommend it. I recommend going out and getting a job at a bar, watching and learning, going out to bars as a customer and observing other bartenders, reading books and stocking your bar at home. Good barmanship is as much about good service as good technique.”
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March 20th, 2007
Established: 1985
Specialty: Cocktails, wine, beer
Prices: Moderate
Atmosphere: Serious food in an unserious setting, fresh-juice cocktails adorned with little plastic monkeys.
See Best Boston bars for address and contact info.
For many years, one of my life’s great pleasures has been to sit at the bar at the East Coast Grill, grazing on raw shellfish and drinking margaritas made with fresh citrus juice. The food and drink at this Inman Square institution are so consistently fresh and satisfying that I find myself thanking my lucky stars for the place every time I manage to nab a stool at the always — always — crowded bar.
In the contemporary Boston bar scene, ECG pioneered using fresh-squeezed lemons and limes (instead of powdered sour mix) to make its margaritas, plus fresh pineapple and mango puree for other tropical cocktails. These bright-tasting, not-too-sweet drinks are the liquid counterpart to the kitchen’s equally bright-tasting, equatorial, often fiery dishes. Owner and cookbook author Chris Schlesinger, a member of the nation’s grilling & barbecuing elite, says that the fresh-grapefruit Greyhounds he used to drink at a Key West bar called Pedro’s inspired his own drink-mixing practices. Patrick Sullivan, a bartender at ECG in the mid-’90s, brought the fresh-squeezed philosophy with him when he opened his own pioneering bar, the B-Side Lounge, in 1998.
That’s the other thing about the ECG bar — it has always had cool bartenders. Schlesinger describes his staff’s service as “unpretentious, hardworking and relentlessly friendly.” OK, that’s true, but senior bartender Nick Weinstock pinpoints the crux of the matter: “It’s non-corporate. You’re not dealing with canned personalities here.” Weinstock is a perfect example of this. In addition to being a total professional, he’s brash in a lovable way and amusing without being a suck-up. He and his colleagues genuinely appear to be having a good time behind the bar, and they manage to get the customers in on the fun without monopolizing anyone’s night out. It’s a nifty trick.
Most cocktails here are in the $8 range, and there are always a couple of good New England beers on draught (Buzzard’s Bay, Cambridge Brewing Co., Allagash), not to mention PBR tallboys. A really good, reasonably priced sparkling wine is always available for your oyster-eating pursuits, and the wine list is well tailored to the cuisine.
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March 16th, 2007
The man was a saint, and this is how we celebrate him: Last year on St. Patrick’s Day, I went to Bukowski Tavern in Cambridge because I knew it wouldn’t be as crowded as an Irish pub and there would be no deedle-ee-dee music. I just wanted a few beers. As the place started to fill up, a line for the toilets formed. I took my place in the girls’ line, which was face to face with the boys’ line. At one point, the men’s room opened up, and the guy who was next turned to a damsel in drunken distress and made her an offer: “You take the toilet, I’ll take the sink?” In they both went, as the horrified and amused people who remained in line visualized the scenario. The peeing couple came out a minute later, and the men’s room door once again swung open invitingly. Having just witnessed a great new way to impress a lady, the next guy in line turned to the girl facing him and simply gestured as if to say, ‘Well, how ’bout it?’ With an ‘are you kidding’ expression, she answered, “I don’t think so,” thus mercifully nipping this custom in the bud.
Permalink | 3 Comments | Filed under Beer, Boston bars |
March 15th, 2007
Maine-based journalist Wayne Curtis is an understated and witty writer who can tell a solid yarn about a cocktail’s history. He wrote this article, about “tracking a lost Cuban cocktail to its lair,” for Lost magazine. Here’s the recipe for El Presidente, verbatim from the article:
Over ice in a tall mixing glass, pour:
- 1-1/2 oz. rum
- 3/4 oz. curacao
- 3/4 oz. dry vermouth
- 1/2 tsp of grenadine
Stir well with ice for three or four minutes, then strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel twist.
Permalink | 5 Comments | Filed under Booze in the news, Cocktails, Rum, Vermouth |
