As I mentioned back in February, I recently had the poor judgement to agree to participate in an event put together by Small Screen Network, dubbed “Jim and Rocky’s Barback Pro-Am.”

The idea behind the series was simple: Seattle bartender Jim Romdall and bartender/bon vivant Rocky Yeh would travel along the West Coast, recruiting bloggers, writers and other miscreants to work / take abuse as a barback for the night in kind of a boozy take on “Not My Job,” while SSN’s cameras caught all the humiliation on video for the amusement of…well…sadists, really.

The good news: I didn’t seriously damage anything, with the exception of my dignity and my reputation. The bad news: I managed to screw up a few orders, a credit history or two (goddamn credit cards) and to somehow spill Simon Ford’s champagne from the other end of the bar. Plus, I got to experience the awkwardness of watching Romdall douse a big round of Ramos Fizzes with the smoky violence of Ardbeg.

Yes, really — here, watch the whole thing for yourself:

Tags: Events by Paul
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Five years, almost six.

That’s how long I’ve been writing about drinks, and bars, and hanging out in bars to write about drinks. Throughout this time, I’ve always been keenly aware that my position in the bar equation is firmly on the barstool side of the action. Except for a short stint when I was 22, pouring pitchers of 3.2 beer in Norman, Oklahoma for college students — you could get Bud Light OR Coors Light, or if you were on a fancy date, there was Michelob in the cooler — I’ve never actually broken a sweat behind a bar. Middle-age escapist daydreams aside, I’m okay with that.

This all changes on Monday.

Against my better judgment, this Monday, February 28, I’ll be taking my turn in “Jim and Rocky’s Barback Pro-Am,” a series of events up and down the West Coast that basically entails taking drink bloggers, writers and related boozy hangers-on, and setting them up as free-labor barback piñatas for Jim Romdall, formerly and soon-again-to-be of Vessel, and Rocky Yeh, bar regular turned bartender and ambassador for, oh, everyone. My job? To try not to fall to the floor stricken with cardiac arrest, or otherwise embarrass myself like the aging keyboard monkey I am. I know, not likely, but I have a hard time saying “no” in these kinds of situations.

Anyway, if you’re in Seattle on Monday and possess the kind of high discomfort threshold you’ll need to watch a wheezing man in his 40s attempt to do a job better suited for someone half his age, then come watch this spectacle. It all goes down — and by “it all,” I mean “me and my dignity” — starting at 6pm at Needle & Thread, the upstairs bar at Tavern Law, at 1406 12^th Ave. on Capitol Hill.

If you’re the Facebook type, details are here, but even if you can’t make it, you can feel some of my pain courtesy of Small Screen Network, which will turn their cameras on the event to preserve the ugliness for posterity, damn their souls. There’s also apparently a competition involved, which I’m pretty much giving up on right now, but whatever.

If you’re around, please come to Tavern Law to witness the full horror of the event. Plus, I’m anticipating I’ll need someone to buy me a beer after the whole thing’s over, so it might be a good idea to bring some extra coin. Oh, and are you finished with that?

Tags: Events by Paul
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This summer marks five years since Imbibe magazine made its debut, which also means it’s been five years that I’ve been writing for them. To celebrate this milestone, the folks at Imbibe are holding a cocktail contest, with the winning drink taking prime place on the cover of the May/June issue of the magazine.

That issue also happens to be the one that will be distributed to thousands of attendees at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, and there’s a reason I’m bringing that up. Y’see, if your cocktail is selected as the winning entry, not only will your drink get the place of honor on the magazine cover, but you’ll win a Founder’s Day pass to Tales, which covers access to seminars, the cocktail hour, and a bunch of other things guaranteed to be fun and boozy. And since you’ll need a place to sleep it off, you’ll also get a four-night stay in a King Deluxe room at the Hotel Le Marais in the French Quarter, and you won’t even be forced to bunk with me.

To enter, you need to have your recipe finalized and submitted no later than March 10, 2011. The full details and contest rules are here; if you think you’ve got the winning drink, then get shaking and send in your recipe, and I hope to see you at Tales.

Tags: Events by Paul
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No, the blog hasn’t died, and I haven’t forgotten my WordPress password. Rather, I’ve just been deep in work and life the past, uh, couple of months, and the blog updates I do in my spare time have taken a hit as that spare time has become almost nonexistent. But in case there’s anybody out there still reading this thing, I do have a bunch of stuff coming up starting later this week — but before I get to that, I wanted to get in a quick plug for an event this weekend that I would absolutely be attending if I happened to be in New York.

I think it’s fair to say that there are very few people who have influenced the cocktail world in the past decade as much as Audrey Saunders. Owner of Pegu Club in New York and now my Seattle neighbor (if you consider living on the opposite side of town from me as being a “neighbor”), Audrey is one of the most talented, and professional, people in the industry. This weekend, Audrey is participating in a series of events at the Astor Center in New York, along the lines of “The Alchemy of Taste and Smell” — events ranging from a seminar on aroma and cocktails that Audrey is leading with Dave Arnold, director of culinary technology for the French Culinary Institute and evil genius behind the Cooking Issues blog, to an opening party and a closing dinner that features not only drinks from Audrey and Dave, but food from chefs including David Chang, Wylie Dufresne and Daniel Patterson.

If I didn’t happen to live about 3,000 miles away from the East Village, I’d be on this in a heartbeat. If you’re more conveniently located, and you’re a drink/food geek (and if you’re reading this blog, then GUILTY), then this should be your weekend priority (can’t make all the sessions? Then Friday’s cocktail party and Audrey & Dave’s session seem to be highlights for the mixo crowd).

And now, because I’m lazy, I’m copying and pasting session descriptions; follow the links to find out about booking tickets.

The Alchemy of Taste and Smell
Astor Center, New York City
November 12-13, 2010

Cooking is alchemy: the art of transforming raw materials into a perfected form. Cooking fuses taste and smell, emotion and memory, culture and nature. The work of chefs today is much discussed, but the process by which new dishes and flavor combinations are created remains mysterious. This event will explore creativity in cooking, the composite nature of flavors and the importance of aroma in food and drink.

The event commences on Friday evening, with a cocktail making demonstration, followed by a reception and cocktail party that will feature creative cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Saturday will have demonstrations and talks, followed by a meal.

Seven chefs will collaborate on the dinner on Saturday night. The seven-course meal (one course by each chef) will be experimental in nature, exploring new flavor combinations and making explicit the connection between what we smell and what we taste. For instance, a cucumber/melon salad served on a plate scented with mint essence, as a sensory sleight of hand where by the end of the dish the diner thinks that they have eaten the herb, even though they have only smelled it. Mandy Aftel will collaborate on the dinners. The dishes would be accompanied by appropriate wines.

PROGRAM

Friday Evening

5:00 p.m:
Dave Arnold and Audrey Saunders
Demonstration: Using Aroma in Cocktails (The Study, up to 36 people) $55

Dave Arnold and Audrey Saunders will demonstrate how they use aroma in cocktails, including distillations, essential oils and infusions.

7:00 – 10:00 p.m:
Opening Party (The Lounge and The Gallery, up to 250 people) $95
Creative cocktails by Dave Arnold and Audrey Saunders
Participating Chefs: David Chang, Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa, Daniel Patterson, Nils Noren, Bill Corbett

The party will feature stations spread throughout the two rooms, with chefs and mixologists on display, making food and cocktails. There will be some passed food as well, and white and red wines will also be served.

Saturday Day

11:30 a.m:
David Chang, Wylie Dufresne
Demonstration: New Flavor Combinations (The Study, up to 36 people) $55

Chang and Dufresne will demonstrate some of the dishes that illustrate the strikingly original approach for which they have become famous.

1:00 p.m:
Harold McGee
Lecture: Thinking about Flavor (The Gallery, up to 100 people) $45

McGee will outline the chemical and biological nature of flavor. He will describe the molecules that stimulate our senses of taste and smell, how taste and smell work together to create the perception of flavor, and how that perception is influenced by past experience and by context.

2:30 p.m:
Daniel Patterson and Johnny Iuzzini
Demonstration: Flavor and Aroma (The Study, up to 36 people) $55

Patterson and Iuzzini will demonstrate dishes that focus on the interaction between taste and smell. They will each make dishes starting from the same flavor combinations, demonstrating a range of styles and techniques.

3:45 p.m:
Panel Discussion: Creativity and Flavor (The Gallery, up to 100 people) $35

Five leading chefs will discuss the process by which they create new dishes. The discussion will include the role of ingredients and technique, and how childhood memories and historical and cultural contexts influence the chefs. Moderated by Harold McGee.

5:00 p.m
Mandy Aftel
Demonstration: Creating with Aromas (The Study, up to 36 people) $35

Aftel will demonstrate the process of how she creates with scent — showing you how to orchestrate the interactions between pure and natural essences when blending a flavor or fragrance. The design concepts include register (top, middle, base), relative intensity, evolution, locking, and burying. This architecture of aroma will be illustrated graphically by smelling some unexpected combinations, over a range of concentration ratios. The goal is to produce beautiful and innovative aromas.

Saturday Evening

7:00PM
Dinner. The Lounge (40 people) $300

David Chang, Wylie Dufresne, George Mendes, Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa, Nils Noren, Daniel Patterson, Bill Corbett. The chefs will each make one dish. Some of the dishes are in collaboration with perfumer Mandy Aftel using her essential oils. The price includes beverage and service.

PARTICIPANTS

Mandy Aftel (Owner, Aftelier Perfumes; Author)
Dave Arnold (Director of Culinary Technology, FCI)
David Chang (Chef/Owner, Momofuku, ** Michelin Stars for Ko, World’s 50 Best Restaurants #26 for Ssam Bar)
Bill Corbett (Pastry Chef, Coi)
Wylie Dufresne (Chef/Owner WD-50, * Michelin Star, World’s 50 Best Restaurants #45)
Nils Noren (Vice President of Culinary and Pastry Arts at The International Culinary Center)
Johnny Iuzzini (Pastry Chef, Jean-Georges, *** Michelin Stars)
Harold McGee (Author and NY Times Columnist)
George Mendes (Chef/Owner, Aldea)
Daniel Patterson (Chef/Owner Coi, ** Michelin Stars)
Audrey Saunders (Mixologist, Owner Pegu Club)
Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa (Chefs and Authors, Ideas In Food)

Tags: Events by Paul
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Hey there – yes, you.

While it’s possible you may have stumbled by here while searching for cocktail recipes or some kind of history of drinking, it’s quite likely (considering what I’ve learned about readers of this blog over the past five years) that you’re somehow involved in the drinks industry. Perhaps you’re a booze blogger (howdy, comrade!), or a bartender or bar owner, or a PR associate for a firm representing a liquor brand or two.

If you fall into any of these categories, I’ve got two things to say to you: first, welcome; and second, if you’re surfing around the Internet looking for information on spirits and cocktails, then you need to come see me at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans so we can talk in more detail about this whole online side of the drinks world.

On Sunday, July 25, I’ll be moderating “Keeping Ahead in an Online World,” a Tales session designed to help decipher the ways online tools such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook can be used to promote your profile as a bartender, your talents as a blogger, and the merits of individual brands and bars.

If you made it to Tales last year, you may have caught a similar session I did with Steve Raye from Brand Action Team and Bobby Heugel from Anvil in Houston; during that session, we talked about the ways the boozy blogosphere has evolved, and how blogs can be essential tools at elevating the profile of a bar (and of individual bartenders), as well as ways liquor brands can effectively engage with bloggers and other online “tastemakers” (apologies for the marketing-ese) to promote a product. It was a sold-out session and from the responses I got, one that was helpful for many folks in the industry.

This year, we’re taking the topic a step further, revisiting the world of blogs and the ways they can be utilized to promote brands and careers (along with some examples of recent campaigns that have done it just right), along with ways bloggers can build a readership and get connected in this now-sprawling part of the drinks world. Beyond blogs, however, we’re also venturing deeper into the realm of Twitter, Facebook and all those other ways that people are connecting online and sharing information, and looking at the ways they play a part in the cocktail universe.

There’s probably nobody better suited to talk about this side of online media better than Lindsey Johnson from Lush Life Productions, my co-panelist for this session. Lindsey and her team have been among the most visible presences (both online and in real life) in the drinks world over the past couple of years, and there’s nobody more talented at creating and building an online audience for bars and brands.

Our session is on Sunday at 12:30pm in the Riverview Room at the Hotel Monteleone. I know a lot of folks will either be shaking off their hangovers from the Bartender’s Breakfast or preparing for the flight home, but if you’re involved in the drinks industry or you’re an interested observer as a blogger, take an hour and a half on Sunday afternoon to hear about how you can keep up in a rapidly changing online world.

“Keeping Ahead in an Online World” is sponsored by our good friends at The Dalmore.

Need tickets? Get ‘em here (and while you’re at it, head over to the event’s Facebook page and let us know you’re coming) – and I hope to see you in New Orleans.

Tags: Events by Paul
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