mixtress

I hate to jump in here, but I feel that I must. Actually, I am very serious about staffing at both of my establishments. It is quite a tough job to staff large cocktail bars like Flatiron, Pegu and Clover Club. PDT, Death & Co, and Milk & Honey are very small spaces which require a smaller bar staff. They also have the luxury of not having to deal with large crowds which can a deterrent for serious cocktail bartenders. Lately, with the influx of new cocktail bars run by people who do not have the knowledge to train new bartenders, we are facing more poaching than ever. If we want the community to grow, we all need to train new bartenders; which means that yes, you may come into one of the above mentioned bars and have a newer bartender who in 6 months will be right up there with the greats. Remember, Phil Ward was once a barback..... look at him now. Also, Giu is the only bartender from Flatiron who is currently at Clover Club.

The Slope recipe that we serve at Flatiron is: 2 1/2 oz Rittenhouse Rye 3/4 oz Punt e Mes 1/4 oz Apry Dash Angostura bitters If I recall correctly (don't count on it!)...I think they told me the Slope was 2:1:1. It is a nice drink. ←

They did have time constraints due to the number of items to be judged, cocktails and food. I was suprised as well that no one used gin, in fact I cheered when Tony gave me a cocktail made with bourbon, but unfortunately they cut that out. I must say that Bridget's savory cocktail was fantastic, by far her best of the lot. I found that Tony's whole "collection" was more impressive. I would have loved to have seen some scotch and gin cocktails, but was happy to be represented by true bartenders on the Food Network at all. It was a fun show, and a step in the right direction! Julie

Katie, When I am infusing spirits with tea, I fill up a sink with hot water and submerge the bottles in it for a while to raise the temperature of the gin or vodka. All teas are different, I have done infusions where I leave them for 45 minutes, and others up to 3 hours. With black teas, or highly tanic teas you must be careful not to leave them sitting to long as they will cause your end product to become bitter. When I am working with a new tea, it is really trial and error. The new chamomile cocktail sat for 1 hour, and we strained it out and tried it in a few cocktails, but were unhappy with the chamomile flavor. Round two we let it sit for three hours which worked beautifully. The Beijing Peach recipe is below. Beijing Peach For one bottle of vodka, I use Smirnoff: Place 2 ounces of Jasmine Pearls in a container and muddle them to break them up. Pour vodka over and let sit for 2 hours. Strain through a fine strainer. 2 ounces Jasmine infused vodka 1 ounce White Peach Puree 1/2 ounce Fresh lime juice 3/4 ounce Simple syrup Shake and strain into a cocktail glass Garnish: Orchid

Sam, The tea used at Flatiron in the Beijing Peach is Jasmine Pearl, green tea flavored with jasmine. We have a new cocktail on our winter menu called "English Breakfast which is made with Chamomile and mint (herbal teas)infused Plymouth gin, lemon juice, honey and egg white. My first tea infused cocktail was the "Hawaiian Iced Tea" which was made with a tropical black tea. I generally put this on my summer menu. The Beijing Peach is the top selling cocktail at Flatiron. Julie

Hi Scott, My brother Chris Reiner designed the flight trays for Flatiron. He is an artist specializing in woodwork and sculpture art. His Website is www.reinerarts.com, you could contact him through his site, he may be able to do some custom trays for you. I sent him the glassware that I wanted to use on the flight, our logo and concept, and the size of the tables they needed to go on, and he designed the trays from there. Julie

At Flatiron, we do a cocktail called the Hibiscus Swizzle. I use a hibiscus/ strawberry tea made by Serendipitea, and make a syrup out of it by brewing a strong pot of tea, and adding equal parts sugar to the tea. The Swizzle is gin based, and one of our most popular cocktails.

I have been working on a version of the Jupiter for my new spring menu. After many different variations, this was the winner with my staff: The Jupiter Cocktail 1 1/2 Millers 90 proof Gin 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth 1/2 oz Orange Juice 1/4 oz Parfait Amour The Millers Gin really blended beautifully with the Parfait Amour. It was by far the smoothest.

This is fantastic, I will have more than enough options for cocktails during my visit. Thanks for all of your imput, I'll report on my findings.

I will be heading to San Francisco next week, and I am looking for a few recommendations for great cocktail lounges in the area. Julios new spot Tres Agaves is on my list, are there any other not to be missed watering holes?

A great bartender must possess the following qualities in my book: A scintillating personality A great conversationalist. A vast knowledge of spirits and cocktails. The ability to know what topics not to talk about over the bar. A great sense of humor. An understanding that the bar is a stage, and that they are there to entertain. Honesty Respect for the bar they tend. I love a great cocktail, but I will sit at a bar and have a Makers and ginger with a bartender who keeps me on my toes...

Dave, I'm sure you won't have very many suggestions from Hawaii. Here are my favorites: Lamariana on Oahu is truly a special place and a must for me when I go home. It is one of the last true Hawaiian Kitch bars complete with glass fishing floats, tiki statues, fishing nets and waterfalls. The cocktails are by no means spectacular, but the ambiance is wonderful. For the best cocktail in town try Lewers Lounge. Dale has been working on the beverage program there. Great menu, great ice, and fresh juice. It was such a pleasure to watch the sun set over Diamond Head while enjoying a properly made bourbon smash!

Dave, I think we have forgotten the ever popular apple martini. As much as I would like the rye manhattan to be the cocktail of the 2000's, I was behind the bar for much of 00-05 and have recieved more orders for the apple martini than I care to admit. So many that we created a house infused apple martini at Flatiron so that we did not have to succumb to pucker. The rye manhattan is very popular with my staff, and those who are in the loop!