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March 23, 2012

Tampa Grads Getting Hot Jobs

Our Tampa School, The American Bartending School has been keeping quite busy in helping staff bars and restaurants in not only the local Tampa Bay area but in other great areas of Florida.

Assistant Director Tracy Zuluaga reports that the school's job placement database generally will have as many as 30 to 45 listings posted each week. Zuluaga says that they have students getting jobs, and as long as the grads listen to the school staff in how to go about getting a great bartending job, they will be successful.

Recent graduate Rachel Tygart knows this all very well. In a Facebook Recommendation for the school this week Rachel writes,

"This school is more than what anyone thinks. The instructors are great and the classes are fun. And after successfully completing the course, the doors are always open and inviting for you to keep coming back and practicing whenever you need to. I would (and have) recommended going to this school to anyone even remotely interested in bartending now or in the future. And as for job placement, if
you put in even just a little effort, it's not difficult in the slightest, with the schools help, to land a job. I had 2 interviews yesterday at 2 very established and popular clubs in Ybor City and with the things I learned from attending the school, I landed both jobs. Anyone can do this so go do it! What are you waiting for?"

Rachel is currently working at Club Prana, a very trendy posh nightclub that has become one of hottest two-story nightclubs in Tampa Bay.

She also is bartending at Club Underground a night club which features some of the biggest and hottest events that come to Tampa.

Joshua Poirier is also is a very happy graduate of the school as well. In a Facebook post for the school earlier this week Joshua writes,

"Moving to the keys sunday! Got a bartending job at the cheeca lodge & resort!"

Zuluaga responded,

"We love Josh Poirier! His first job was at the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove in St Pete - from there he starting working at the Black Palm in St Pete and he came by my office yesterday to tell me he landed a job on the fabulous Isla Morada in the Keys - not only will he be bartending but housing is included and he will be living on the stunning Cheeca Lodge & Resort Isla Morada"

Congratulations to both Rachel & Joshua as they continue making a great career behind bars!

Randy Bullen - PBSA Inc.


Posted by RedStagg at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)

The Secret Ingredient

Liquor companies love to claim they use closely guarded, centuries-old recipes. usually it’s just marketing.

By Wayne Curtis - April 2012 The Atlantic Magazine

The original recipe for Benedictine liqueur was discovered in a 16th-century alchemist’s notebook—or so I was told by my tour guide at the Benedictine distillery in Fécamp, France. That notebook, in turn, had been associated with the Benedictine monks, who she said had helped devise the recipe. Any chance that I might glimpse this exalted tome? “No, it’s not here,” the guide said. Read More

Posted by RedStagg at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2012

Yahoo Travel - Americas Best Bars

Check Out Americas Best Bars From Yahoo Travel

From a lounge in a renovated Las Vegas wedding chapel to a 19th-century-style saloon, America’s best bars celebrate the handmade, the historical and the locally sourced. Read More

Posted by RedStagg at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2012

Star Of The Bar Competition

Are you the next Star of the Bar? Professional and amateur mixologists are invited to go head to head and see who can create the nation’s most creative cocktail for the Star of the Bar title and $5,000 cash prize at the 2012 International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event. IWSB will be held at its new dates May 6 and 7 at Chicago's McCormick Place.

Interested in a shot at the title, a trip to Chicago to demonstrate your skills at IWSB, plus $5,000? Read More

Posted by RedStagg at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2012

Hotel Lounge Renamed After Its Own Longtime Bartender

Story by CBC News

A Halifax hotel has renamed its lounge after a longtime bartender who has been working there for nearly five decades.

In 1963, Roy Clorey began pouring drinks at the Griffin lounge at Halifax's Nova Scotian Hotel.

Although the hotel is now called the Westin Nova Scotian and the lounge has moved from its original location — now home to the Sykea Salon and Spa — Clorey is still mixing his signature martinis.

"I enjoy what I do. To me, it's not a job. Some people come to work and they come to a job. For me, it's part of your life, when you've been in the business that long," he said Thursday.

"As long as I can do it. Like I said, I'll know when to quit."

Clorey said he felt honoured when officials at the Westin Nova Scotian surprised him at a staff Christmas party and told him the name of the hotel lobby bar would be changing from Eve to Roy's Lounge.

Earlier this week, they made it official.

"Usually I know everything that goes on in this hotel, through management or staff," Clorey said with a laugh.

"I was surprised. I was shocked."

Roberto de Armas, who has worked with Clorey at the hotel for five years, said he's learned a lot from his colleague.

"The professional things, the passion, the way he talks to the customers — he's always happy and he's still happy, so it's very nice for us," he said.

And Clorey knows how to keep a secret — like all the best bartenders.

"Most of the stories, you know what I mean, the only place you could put them would be in Frank Magazine," he said, laughing.

Posted by RedStagg at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)