Jeffrey Morgenthaler

After waiting for the initial line to die down… oh, wait. We didn’t wait in line. Some people thought they’d just go to the end of the line, two blocks away, and wait to be let into the show. My associates and I? We just weasled our way up in front and were among the first fifty people in there.

It’s a weird scene. There are serious people who attend this sort of event to network with other professionals and learn about new trade items. And then there are people who are there to party and get drunk on free samples. I took the high road and tried to learn as much as I possibly could in the short time that I was there. So I skipped over a lot of the booths. Like the one Malibu Rum set up and had fronted by this guy in the banana suit:

And of course there’s a lot of this business everywhere:

But there’s also a lot of good product tables, and I’m going to show you some of the best ones I found.

I’m waiting for them to open the doors to the show, as hundreds upon hundreds of people line up outside in the lobby.

Coming up next, I’ve got tons of product reviews from inside the show, and a mixology competition with our friends Sean Bigley, Darren West and Zoltan Andahazy.

9:30 in the morning is a cruel time to try to get 500 bartenders together in the same room, especially in Las Vegas. But the turnout was great nonetheless for two of mixology’s living legends, Dale DeGroff and Tony Abou-Ganim.

They started out with a short video presentation hosted by Tony about the bar chef movement. He first interviewed Julie Reiner of the Flatiron Lounge, a bartender known for her brilliant cocktail menu consisting of subtle twists on the classics.

Next up in the video was William L. Hamilton of the New York Times, who talked about the disparity between the progressive food movement we’ve seen in this country over the past thirty years and the state of bartending today. I’ve often been confused, during my travels in fine dining, as to why people will demand local, fresh organic ingredients in their food, yet settle for neon-colored sugar water as accompaniments to their meal. This presentation was beginning to strike a chord with me.

We then were introduced to the bar chefs at Employees Only, a lounge in New York City, just to hammer home the idea that the newest trend in bartending is the idea of “the chef of the bar”.

Tony began his talk with a quote from Mark Twain’s ‘Roughing It’ from 1872:

In Nevada, for a time, the lawyer, the editor, the banker, the chief desperado, the chief gambler, and the saloon-keeper occupied the same level of society, and it was the highest.

At some point, Tony informed us, something changed. He asked the crowd if we knew that that turning point was.

I answered, “Prohibition”.

Now, I won’t regale you with my feelings about the state of bartending today and the long-term effects that Prohibition had, but (and you knew this was coming) I want everyone in this country to give some thought to Repeal Day.

Tony went on to give us point after point as to why the bar chef movement is, and should be, gaining ground in this country. My favorite point of his was this: if a kitchen took such a lackadaisical approach to its food as most bartenders take to their creations, that restaurant would be closed in a week. Yet, somehow, customers are willing to put up with this sort of passionless approach to bars.

Tony then introduced his mentor, Dale DeGroff. Dale continued on the bar chef/mixologist theme by outlining in a very simple fashion just how easy it is for a bar to take a few extra steps and begin putting out high-quality cocktails. He even went so far as to state that using fresh juices in place of low-quality pre-mix can actually be cheaper – in addition to tasting better.

It was a great talk, and I left feeling like I was part of a larger community. Tony and Dale’s philosophies are so in line with my personal approach to running a bar that the resonation I felt when I left gave me a new sense of resolve. I even got to meet Tony later.

If you happen to find yourself in Eugene tomorrow night, stop on in at El Vaquero. The drinks and service are going to be even better than usual.

My night tonight was the best so far. No strip clubs, no chicken wings, just a big group of real cocktail enthusiasts and three amazing locations.

I started my night at the Wynn hotel in a private suite fifty floors above the city, drinking Sagatiba Pura. It’s a brand-new cachaça here in the States, and I was honored to have received an invite to be one of the first to try it.

It’s a multi-distilled product, so the taste is clean and smooth, without the fire you’ll find in traditional cachaças.

I met up with Sean and Lisa Bigley, and we toured the innovative cocktail menu together. They introduced me to Jacques Bezuidenhout, a mixologist for Partida tequila and his girlfriend Gabrielle, a server at the fabulous Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco.

Once the party was over and the bar was closed, the five of us headed out for tapas at Firefly for some much-needed nourishment.

It was then decided that we all should head over to Sean’s bar, the Fontana at the Bellagio (see last night’s drunken entry) to hassle Darren West for Frenet Branca and Calvados Sidecars.

We were treated to an up-close view of the fountain show from the little patio off the back of Fontana.

Things took a six-degrees-of-separation turn when a couple of kids showed up to meet Sean to talk about the mixology competition tomorrow. The aspiring mixology contestant, named Zole Andahazy, lives in my hometown of Monterey, California and tends bar at the Bernardus Lodge – home of some of my favorite wines. Since I grew up about 5 miles from where they live now, and was there for dinner with my parents not a month ago, we had plenty to talk about.

The six-degree-ism came into play when Zole and I discovered that we had both tended bar at Marché Restaurant in Eugene. Small world, huh?

As the night wore on, Dale DeGroff stopped by to say hello, and I finally had the opportunity to thank him in person for the kind support he lent last December for Repeal Day. I’m going to listen to his keynote address tomorrow morning before the bar show, so look for some coverage of the whole day!

Thanks again for reading, I do appreciate it.

Went to the Convention Center this morning and picked up my pass for the show:

I think the real bar manager at Red Agave might be a little miffed if she sees this, but at least they spelled my name correctly.

My friend Jimmy of Jimmy’s Cocktail Hour (see links at right) sent me to the Bellagio to find Darren West, but he’s not working at the Petrossian tonight. I’m going to finish the most incredible Negroni in the world and continue my search. Stand by!

Well, it didn’t work out. Go figure, I’m not much of a gambler. To tell you the truth, I don’t gamble at all. Ever. Personally, I’d rather spend a hundred on a bottle of wine.

Just took a little walk through the neighborhood, stopped in at the dueling piano bar at New York, New York (lame) and then popped in at Centrifuge in the MGM Grand. Great bar, amazing bartenders, superlative service. I was a happy man.

Now I’m about to take a disco nap before I meet up with my esteemed liquor dispensers for dinner. I promise I’ll have some pictures soon!

I haven’t been to Las Vegas in six years, and I’ve never flown on Southwest Airlines. Although the cattle-call seating arrangements that this airline favors are less than, uh, favorable, the good vibrations are palpable. Maybe it’s because I’m surrounded by the fun-loving staff of an Oregon City liquor store, or maybe it’s because everyone on the plane is on vacation, but the air is light and I’m getting excited.

Next up, I check in to the Tropicana, put a hundred on black, and settle in for a little nap. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.