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Bartender Q & A
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How did you end up in bartending?
"My father once mentioned it was a good way to make good money through school, meet all sorts of new people and have a job wherever you travel. I got a job, while going to the University of California-Davis, at a small Czech bar, and since then, it's stuck."
-- Heather Perkins, 27, Spoon and BRGR
"I was 19 and working at a little Italian restaurant in McMurray with a more mature clientele (my first cocktails that I learned were Manhattan, Rusty Nail and Stinger). Every day, I would annoy our bartender about drink recipes and spirits until he showed me. Eventually, he went on vacation and they asked me to fill in."
-- Summer Voelker, 31, Salt of the Earth
"I was about 17 or 18 and signed up for bartender school and I had to borrow the money from my uncle. I don't think most of my family was too excited about it at first. They had a different idea of what it was about. They see it in a different light now."
-- April M. Diehl, 32, Gooski's and Rowdy Buck
"I was working for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board as a clerk in a wine and spirits shop in 2000. I was only 18 and wasn't allowed on the wine-tasting trips or the distillery tours, so instead I had to study for hours to obtain Certification of Wine and Spirits from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A few years later I decided to join the service industry and put all my knowledge to the test."
-- Erika Joyner, 29, Salt of the Earth
Obviously, there are plenty of women working in hospitality. But are women underrepresented as "craft" or "career" bartenders?
"It's a male-dominated field, and really, there are some bars out there that women weren't allowed in until 20 years ago. Let's be honest -- women are always getting the short end of the stick."
-- Allison Contreras, 29, Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina, and brand ambassador for TuB gin
"Initially it was a lot harder to be taken seriously and to be respected for being a skilled bartender and an intelligent person. Most of the bars I worked at were predominately male. I loved when people would ask to speak to the person in charge in a condescending tone and subsequently realize they were speaking to the person in charge. ... Not a lot of people thought of what I do as a real job. Thankfully, times are changing."
-- April M. Diehl
"I don't think men or women are taken very seriously in Pittsburgh when their profession is behind a bar. I think that anyone outside of the industry looks down on this as a serious career. Perhaps in other cities, such as Vegas or New York, bartenders are more respected -- I'm not sure. I'm asked daily, 'Is this your only job?' It is disheartening, as I make a great living; I was able to buy a house on a bartender's salary."
-- Nicole Battle Tebbets, 34, Kaya
In Pittsburgh, it seems that there are just as many women driving cocktail programs as men, if not more. Is that the reality? If so, why?
"I think that in reality it's about equal, but at least in my mind, I think the women are doing fantastic things. I look up to so many of these ladies in this group. ... There are male bartenders I look up to as well, but [I] think that the women in Pittsburgh have truly been doing amazing work, managing liquor brands, holding seminars, [and] special beer and liquor events for the public."
-- Sarah Williams, 24, Soba
"When some of the local bartenders went to a bartenders conference in the fall, other chapters were surprised to see so many women in our group."
-- Kiersten Schilinski, 23, Dish Osteria and Meat & Potatoes
Are there any challenges specific to being a woman bartender?
"I have never worked anywhere that expected anything more than a bartender."
-- Erika Joyner
"If anything, I think women have an upper hand. We are more versatile."
-- Heather Perkins
"The true challenge of being a female bartender is to always find the right balance. ... It seems like we have more to prove. Male bartenders are automatically thought of as authority figures to some degree. It's different for us: Spend too much time talking to the male customers and you're a flirt working on a big tip. Spend too much time talking to the female customers and you are too girlie. We need to know how to talk to men and women and be well versed, which every bartender should be, but I feel to be respected we have to take it to another level."
-- RaeLynn Harshman, 34, Dish Osteria
"The biggest challenge [is] balancing my home life with my professional life. I am married, and my husband works a 9-to-5, and we have had to sacrifice a lot of weekends and holidays because of my job. We can sometimes go days without seeing each other awake."
-- Nicole Battle Tebbets
From the outside looking in, it seems Pittsburgh has a congenial, tightly knit food-service scene. Bartenders trade recipes and share ideas. Is that true? Is it also true in bigger cities?
"Our industry has an enormously supportive community here in Pittsburgh. I've also seen the same thing from my friends in the industry in bigger cities. We all know that we can grow and better ourselves and our careers by learning from our peers, our mentors and our role models."
-- Maggie Meskey, 32, Salt of the Earth, and chapter president of the U.S. Bartenders' Guild of Pittsburgh
"We love each other. We go to each other's restaurants, we take suggestions, criticism, advice, and I think that's because we see each other so often being that Pittsburgh is such a small city. We also have a similar goal, to make Pittsburgh a destination city for food, cocktails and just living."
-- Kiersten Schilinski
"All of us bartenders hang out and it's great to feel like you can bounce ideas off of each other and not worry about anyone taking your idea. In bigger cities, I've found them to be more cutthroat."
-- Allison Contreras
What sets "career" bartenders apart from the men and women who pour whiskey and pull a tap?
"We care about the seasonality and provenance of our produce. We do our best to support the one-man distilleries and the craft microbrewers. We're aware of the way that the small-business owners who run our restaurants have put so much on the line, and the power that we have to help drive their success. We devote a lot of time to perfecting and to testing. Career bartenders care about more than just their take from the tip jar at the end of the night. It's not a knock on the shot-slingers or the girls who just crack bottles of Bud all night long; it's just recognition of the fact that we have different sets of priorities."
-- Jessicarobyn Keyser, 28, Union Pig & Chicken
"I don't think that being a 'career' bartender in any way denotes what you do behind your bar. I mean, the rules are all the same. Serve people safely and smartly, be quick, be friendly, be consistent, enjoy what you do. I don't look down on anyone for pouring draft beer and whiskey."
-- Sarah Williams
Are there any particular challenges to operating a "serious" cocktail menu in Pittsburgh, or are we beyond that?
"I work at a very nice bar and restaurant in the South Side, and it's very rare I am ever asked to make a Jager bomb. (Are those things still popular?) If you do something right and establish a strong identity you should be fine. I think we are beyond that."
-- RaeLynn Harshman
"The PLCB is a real hurdle. Where we can buy our items, and from whom, and whether we can sell certain things or not -- it's all a real pain ...."
-- Jessicarobyn Keyser
"If it wasn't challenging, I wouldn't keep at it. People expect to get the same thing everywhere that they go; it's fun to be able to show them that there are spirits, wines, beers [and] ingredients out there that they might never have found on their own."
-- Maggie Meskey
"I think that it's difficult to woo everyone that will walk into your bar. Even at Mad Mex, we'd get people upset that we didn't have Coors Light. 'Cause 'This is Pittsburgh, for cryin' out loud!'"
-- Sarah Williams
The one thing Pittsburgh's cocktail scene lacks is ...
"A true speakeasy-style cocktail bar."
-- Kiersten Schilinski
"A good taxi service!"
-- Heather Perkins
My favorite cocktail bar outside of Pittsburgh is ...
"The Drawing Room and Sepia in Chicago."
-- Summer Voelker
"Employees Only, New York City."
-- Allison Contreras
"Bourbon and Branch, San Francisco."
-- RaeLynn Harshman
Believe it or not, some of my most valuable food service training came at ...
"The Spaghetti Warehouse. ... My first job in Pittsburgh, to be followed by many, many more."
-- Nicole Battle Tebbets
"From my aunt, on holidays and family reunions. She taught me the basics."
-- Erika Joyner
"T.G.I. Fridays. They have a wonderful training program where I built my foundation."
-- RaeLynn Harshman
"I actually learned a lot of invaluable things while working with FACT (Friends Against Counter-Productive Taxation) in 2007 and 2008 in an attempt to have the tax on poured beverages repealed. I'm a savvier manager, and I run a smarter, safer beverage program because of the things that I learned about PLCB law during those months."
-- Jessicarobyn Keyser
The one cocktail trend I would like to see die is ...
"The '-tini' trend. Appletini, pomegranate martini, peartini -- it's just vodka with some terrible puckers-style liquor."
-- Kiersten Schilinski
"Barrel-aging cocktails. I like my Negroni bright and bitter."
-- Summer Voelker
"The flavored-spirits thing needs to find itself a swift and painful end, unless the companies start to get a little more creative."
-- Jessicarobyn Keyser
"Flavored vodkas. We can make our own that are infused with natural ingredients that are better."
-- RaeLynn Harshman
"Any type of 'bomb' drink is a little unnecessary."
-- Heather Perkins
The one thing I can't get through the PLCB that I wish I could is ...
"Imbue Vermouth."
-- Summer Voelker
"Perique, a French tobacco liqueur."
-- Jessicarobyn Keyser
"Only one thing?"
-- Kiersten Schilinski
"Branca Menta."
-- Maggie Meskey
I'd like to buy you a drink. What'll it be? And it doesn't have to be a cocktail ...
"Basil Hayden, neat."
-- April Diehl
"I'll take an East End Big Hop and a shot of mezcal."
-- Maggie Meskey
"Dealer's choice."
-- Erika Joyner
"Tecate and some mezcal or chartreuse, please."
-- Allison Contreras
First Published June 7, 2012 12:00 am
