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Behind The Bar ~ The Third Man
The Third Man bartender Erin Sullivan didn’t always love the hospitality scene. “My first job was in a kitchen when I was fourteen, and I hated it,” she explains. “But then again, I was fourteen — so I...
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Behind The Bash ~ LUCKYRICE Festival
If you gravitate towards sushi on any given opportunity, call winter “ramen season” and have stock piles of chopsticks in place of forks, LUCKYRICE— the annual festival spotlighting Asian cuisine in...
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Behind The Bar ~ Mulberry Project
For Mulberry Project head bartender Aaron Polsky, timing was everything. The New Jersey native stepped into the hospitality scene just as the craft cocktail movement was burgeoning, getting his feet...
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Behind The Bar ~ Bonnie Vee
After working in restaurants from age 16 and becoming involved in theatre at age 20, Bonnie Vee bartender Nino Cirabisi got an unexpected understudy opportunity. When the bartender at his restaurant of...
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Behind The Bar ~ The Up & Up
For Up & Up owner Matt Piacentini, drinking seriously coincided with serious drinking. The Portland native’s first sampling of a single malt Scotch came at age 21 at the hands of his brother at San...
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Behind The Bar ~ Lot 45
Lot 45 bartender Rael Petit came to New York for a week to visit his sister when he was 19 — and never left. The Geneva native began working at Coffee Shop in Union Square, where he built up skill sets...
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Behind The Bar ~ Featherweight
Featherweight bartender Johnny De Piper credits his nomadic upbringing for his ability to quickly befriend industry contemporaries today. “Restaurant folks are my people,” he says. “We're usually super...
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Behind The Bar ~ Atwood Kitchen & Bar Room
After serving patrons a different kind of buzz during his first service industry gig as a barista, Gil Bouhana moved behind the bar to open restaurants with B.R. Guest. It was during this time that he...
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Behind The Bar ~ The Leadbelly
It was a smoky, 24-hour café in Kalamazoo, Michigan that originally attracted Leadbelly bar manager and then high schooler Alex McNeely to everything that evenings had to offer. “I fell in love with...
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Behind The Bar ~ Fung Tu
Upon acquiring a copy of Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible, Fung Tu beverage director Jason Wagner knew he wanted to become a sommelier. “I was quickly enthralled by the whole subject,” he explains. With that...
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Behind The Bar ~ Porchlight
After working weekends and summers at his uncle’s bar in Sag Harbor, New York, Nick Bennett pursued a newfound passion further inland. He stepped behind the bar at East Village bitters institution Amor...
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Behind The Bar ~ The Wayland
Following some post-college travels through Argentina, it was a gig with Tanteo Tequila that brought Wayland co-owner Brian Hawthorne to New York. “I started out pressing limes and washing glasses, but...
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Behind The Bar ~ Javelina
Javelina general manager Christopher Skillern recalls a charmed upbringing in Austin, Texas. “I spent most of my life eating barbecue, breakfast tacos and queso — usually at all-hours at one of...
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Behind The Bar ~ Mexicue
Chef Thomas Kelly got his first taste of barbecue by growing up helping his “pitmaster” father cook it for guests. His enterprising spirit was evident already at age 14, when he bought a food...
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Behind The Bar ~ Chefs Club by Food & Wine
Before Chefs Club bartender Anthony Bohlinger stepped behind the stick, he was managing the doors of them. During his time checking IDs at several NYC clubs, a friend asked him if he wanted to do the...
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Behind The Bar With Grant Wheeler
Hospitality comes naturally for Grant Wheeler, who grew up in a home with a mother who found her passion in entertaining. “As a young child, I used to wait for the house to be alive with music and...
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Behind The Bar ~ Neta
If anyone appreciates the far-ranging field of hospitality, it’s Neta beverage director Cole Schaffer. After cutting his teeth at Student Prince, his family’s 500-seat German restaurant in...
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Behind The Bar ~ The Gander
While other teenagers were spending their summers vacationing and partying beachside, The Gander beverage manager Andrew Lakin was bussing tables— happily. “I kept with it because I loved the...
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Behind the Bar ~ Yusef Austin
Between his celebrity-stacked private bookings and his consulting work for BR Guest Hospitality, Yusef Austin, otherwise known as The Cocktail Architect, is a hard one to keep up with — and always has...
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Behind The Bar ~ Measure Lounge
Measure Lounge’s Sarah Karakaian has a love for the hospitality industry that is nothing short of all encompassing. The Texas native grew up in Pennsylvania and worked at McDonald’s and Dairy Queen...
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