RAISING THE BAR

The King of Cocktails adds up the pluses and minuses of life behind bars.
This is an exciting time to be a part of the alcoholic beverage industry on any level but especially for professional bartenders. Please excuse the pun, but the profession has been on the rocks for years. Bartending never fully recovered from the disastrous blow dealt by Prohibition. For years it has been just a means to an end, a second-class job for an uncle who couldn't cut the mustard in school.

At the height of the profession in the last quarter of the 19th century, bartending was a highly-skilled profession that encompassed skills way beyond serving alcoholic beverages to guests. Many of the products used daily in drink preparation like bitters, syrups and cordials were manufactured on premise by the bar staff. Spirits, especially American straight whiskies, were delivered full strength in barrels and were rectified (diluted to drinking proof) on premise. Bartenders had to be skilled in handling apparatus for infusing, macerating and filtering as well as masters of spice, herbal, fruit and spirits ingredients. If you have ever heard an old timer call his bartender a chemist it harkens back to this golden era of the bartending profession.

Today there is a movement in the profession to go back to fresh and natural ingredients, to seek out original recipes and to create exciting new recipes. Young professionals are mastering all aspects of the business, not just spirits and cocktails but wine and beer as well. So pursuing a career as a bartender has never been better, but what exactly are the perks and what are the pitfalls of this second oldest of professions?

PERKS
• I met my wife and some of the dearest friends I have through the job.

• It is an opportunity to meet a wide range of people from all walks of life and to learn tolerance for the differences between people.

• It teaches the fine art of listening.

• It is a study in how to have a good time and indeed an opportunity to teach people how to have a good time. My mentor and boss for many years, the legendary restaurant innovator Joe Baum, once said to me, "Dale some people need to be taught how to have a good time.that is what I hired you for." I don't mean taught in a heavy-handed way, but lots of people who end up at a bar don't have a clue about bars and they need help. Here in New York City the bars are our natural resource, like the redwoods in California and the bartender is like the forest ranger there to guide you and protect you from the wild animals.

• The job has led to much more than I originally anticipated. I am now a published author of a cocktail recipe book called The Craft of the Cocktail, published by Clarkson Potter. The opportunity to create a brand around an individual, once exclusive to the master chef, is now possible for a master craftsman behind the bar.

• It is a profession that can be rewarding in many ways including financially. There are many different kinds of bartender; you can be a shot and beer guy your whole career.and there is nothing wrong with that. I have favorite places that are just that with great bartenders that are masters of conversation and brilliant at showing all a good time. You can also be the Paul Bocuse of bartenders and take the craft to another level.

• Then of course the two classic reasons a lot of young people entered the profession to begin with: to meet future sex partners and make money. Hey.you gotta start somewhere!

PANS
• Long hours and you work when others play-holidays, nights, weekend and traditional vacation times.

• Bartending can be hell on relationships; it takes a special man or women to be with a partner who is seldom home for dinner and in some cases sleeps through a good part of the day. Children can suffer when one of their parents is absent for much of their waking time. Also, being behind the bar makes you fair game for unusually frank sexual advances. On the reverse side of that, there are predatory bartenders who take unfair advantage of people at the end of the night when defenses are down.

• Health hazards like exposure to smoke, although many states are now dealing with the smoking issue.

• Drinking and drug problems can plague the profession.

• Uninspired owners or managers who don't share your vision for excellence in product.

• Difficult or downright mean customers that can wear down the sunniest of personalities.

• The perception by some that bartending is not a true profession but a job to settle for when you can't make it in a real job.

I slipped into the profession through the side door like many young people who come to the big city with dreams of show business or music, but I found out after some years that bartending is a unique kind of performing art that uses many of the skills taught in theatre and communications jobs.

Toby Cecchini the author of the wonderful saga of a bartender's life called Cosmopolitan recounts a meeting with his grandfather in Italy . Toby was embarrassed at the admission that he had been bartending for several years and assured his grandfather that he was on the way to better things. The grandfather asked if he was a good bartender and proud of his work. That was the first time Toby thought of bartending as something to be proud of and it changed his perception of his own life.