Cocktails, and bartenders alike, are not being out done anymore by the Chef’s and foodie movement.  Bartenders have decided enough is enough, to be competitive in this day and time, establishments need more substance to their place than just trendy, chic, elegant facades and upholstery.  Great Chef’s making amazing cuisine is never a bad thing, in fact it makes, or in some cases, breaks the life expectancy of a restaurant.  Great cuisine makes the job of bartenders and servers so much easier.  I’ve been lucky in my career to work side by side with some talented chef’s and can’t tell you enough how great it is to work at an establishment where the cuisine is unbelievable.  Pitching the menu is easier when you know that what your selling is nothing short of amazing.  Having a “security blanket” in the cuisine when you tell a guest “trust me you’ll love that dish” is the great equalizer in the restaurant industry.  You not only have passion for selling the dish, you’re excited to see the reaction of the guests’ when they sink their teeth into a dish that was recommended.  Basically one third of your job as a bartender of server is done and you didn’t even do anything, because of the Chef and his or her staff preparing the food.  Now the bartenders and servers can concentrate on the other two thirds of the equation — drinks and service — and focusing on each of them can make all the difference to a guest.  It can take a guest experience at a restaurant to a level that the guest will tell friends and family about, and equally as important it can make the guest come back for repeat visits.

Now enters the cocktail craze!  Cocktails are going culinary, and in most cases are being given more attention than some dinner menus, and I love it.  Bartenders are using their individual creativity and artistic craftsmanship by using fresh fruit juices, locally grown herbs and vegetables.  Bartenders are doing the “extra” by infusing spirits that never would have been thought of 10 years ago.  Homemade syrups and bitters are being injected into the industry by some extremely intelligent and creative barmen and women and in my opinion raising the bar when it comes to the cocktail movement.  Along with all the “freshness” and in-house made syrups and bitters, bartenders are now revisiting tried and true recipes that have stood the test of time.  Cocktails like Pisco Sour, Corpse Reviver, Sazerac and Monkey Gland, to name a few, are making their modern day comeback.  Unlike the times when those drinks were popular, which were back in the pre-prohibition days, the drinks are being made today with more varieties of spirits and fresher more available ingredients.  Not only that, bartenders of today are putting their own interpretations and signatures on these classic cocktails, and in most cases inventing all together new cocktails that barely resemble the “classics”, and who knows maybe 75 years from now they will be classics according to the next generation of barmen and women.

The only thing missing is the audience.  I am here to tell you to put down your Cosmopolitan, your gin and tonic, your fuzzy navel (yuk, BTW) and start living!  You’re missing out on not only a taste bud orgasm when imbibing, but some passionate and talented bartenders ready to serve and are the very best at what they do.  Start treating cocktails as you would a nice glass of cabernet when enjoying a great steak.  Cocktails are just as much apart of the dining experience as the cuisine itself now-a-days, as well they should be.  These talented drink slingers that are concocting these libations are working with their chef’s and kitchen teams to learn how to pair what drink with what dish to pass on to the guest and are creating an dining experience like never before, and it’s an amazing experience.  The title of bartender is being replaced now with the title barchef, or the more popular title of mixologist to those creative few who create and invent, instead of regurgatate and reproduce — or are liquor dispensers as I have so called them in the past.  (Liquor Dispenser; noun; A bartender that just makes whatever it is called out and takes money without any thought, passion or care put into your drink of choice; he or she takes no ownership of whatever it is they made and just simply pushes drinks across a bar).  The cocktail revolution is here to stay my friends and it is an exciting time to not only be a bartender, but most rewarding if you enjoying imbibing and having a few cocktails after work with some friends.

Where to go in Minneapolis to enjoy such cocktails? Not very far at all.  Places like Town Talk Diner, where Adam Harness is your man to see; La Belle Vie in the Groveland Building off of Lyndale, stop in and see the master at his craft, the one and only Johnny Michaels.  Johnny is well known nationally for his cocktail creations and things you thought could never be done with spirits.  Azia in uptown is also a great spot for exotic martini’s and libations.  Jeff Rogers tending bar in downtown Minneapolis at Elixir is a magician when it comes to combining spirits and anything really.  Of course I couldn’t forget about Bradstreet Crafthouse!  What Toby has done with cocktails and his passion for fresh and unique ingredients is really second to none.  His protege Jourdan Gomez will make your head spin with some of the techniques and marrying of classic modern cocktails is truly a sight to behold.  Really, there are more and more places popping up all over our great city and suburbs with unbelievably talented gents and women that are taking the cocktail revolution to a higher place.  I hope you’re ready for this because it is truly a treat.  As more and more places I visit and people I talk with are discovered I will most certainly share with you these hidden treasures.  Until then Cheers, and keep on imbibing Minneapolis!