Drinks With…Sasha Petraske

This month we take a little time out with one of the cocktail industry’s iconic operators, Mr Sasha Petraske. In 2000 Petraske opened Milk & Honey (New York) in what he says was a response to the decline in the city’s bar culture. Six years later he was named in the New York magazine as one of the city’s most influential people - high praise when you consider that Hillary Clinton (the current US Secretary of State) has also made the list.

Bar Food - Biting off more than you can chew

We’re conscious of an increased effort by Aussie ‘tenders to offer an array of tasty snacks and treats (sometimes complimentary) for their tippling guests. You don’t necessarily need an industrial kitchen to turn out interesting and flavoursome ‘bar-bites’ either, although a good relationship with a chef might be advantageous. Bar-bites can be as simple as a ‘toastie’, hot-dogs, oysters, nuts, popcorn, pickles or house marinated olives. They can also be more substantial and labour intensive, like the rustic ploughman’s plate and pork pies that are offered up at the Lord Nelson Hotel (Sydney), or in Melbourne where The Waiting Room’s serves up their Classic Cheeseburger and the Kodiak Club offers its face melting Buffalo Wings.

Five Steps to a Successful Bar & Restaurant

Welcome to the modern era of the bar and restaurant. The rules have changed, venues have evolved and the customer reigns supreme. So what makes a successful bar and restaurant? Before we tackle this question ask yourself this: what do you think makes a venue successful? What distinctive traits do the venues that are doing well have in common? Think of your establishment as a tree.

To have a large strong healthy tree you must first develop a large extensive root system and the larger the root system the more support and potential the tree has to grow. This is where you have to start so from the ground up.

Cigar & Spirit Matching

When David Spanton put the call out through social media to see who might want to take part he was swamped, and in the end a lucky group got to join him on Zeta’s balcony to enjoy some fine cigars and some terrific spirits. Those lucky attendees were; David Spanton (Editor and Publisher Australian Bartender magazine), (Sam Bygrave (Cohibar, Sydney), Collin Perillo (Zeta, Sydney), John Toubia (Grasshopper, Sydney), Charlie Lehmann (Zeta, Sydney) and Samuel Spurr (cigar writer for Inlumino Cigar News Australia). The spirits on offer were top notch, and some interesting matches were found over the afternoon’s course.

Philip Duff - Global drinks business part II

The only way to make decent money in the drinks business - whether you distil it, sell it, wholesale it or serve it to customers or guests - is to be an absolutely penny-pinching maniac, earn modest margins, expand your business so you have economies of scale and tell a nice story about a fine product in an attractive bottle, sold for the right price and in the right way, to anyone who’ll listen.

Syrups and Purees - A sticky situation

A while back (March, 2011) Bartender featured a recipe to make your own Orgeat syrup. As appealing as it might be, when you’re five deep and pumping out Mai Tais through summer’s long months having a stock of pre-made orgeat on hand, or a phone call away, is reassuring. So what else does using pre-made syrups and purees offer to a bartender? Chris Patsos from Posi-Pour Wholesalers, distributes the widely known and used Monin syrups, he knows that his products offer a number of distinct advantages. “Our products offer bar staff a higher quality in taste and aroma for their drinks,” he stated when asked about the benefits.