Bar stars: here comes the next generation of cocktail wizards

Cheers, March, 2005 by Cynthia Nims

I got an email from Ryan Magarian while he was on the cruise ship M.S. Prinsendam, going through the Panama Canal. The next day, he called from the coast of Costa Rica. Seattle-based Magarian certainly has created a cool niche for himself in the world of mixology, one good slice of which is developing and implementing the onboard bar program for Holland America Line's 12 cruise ships. Part of the Kathy Casey Food Studios creative development team, through which he consults with independent restaurants, corporations and spirits companies such as Brown-Forman, Magarian has tapped a vein of interest in contemporary cocktails. "I love what I do," says Magarian, "working the craft of making cocktails and doing so for so many different projects. The creative possibilities are endless."

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Magarian's livelihood is just one example of where a career path lined with creative cocktails might lead these days. A decade ago the landscape was very different for the professional bartender, with few options that allowed him or her to get out from behind the bar. Today, in addition to making great cocktails for thirsty customers, the country's hot bartenders are finding new niches--teaching, consulting, writing--that have developed in recent years. Below you'll meet eight others who are carving out a spot for themselves in the realm of craft cocktails.

VEGAS LIGHTS

Michael MacDonnell is one of the current bar stars, shining neon-bright in Las Vegas. His job title is corporate mixologist for the Olive Group, chef Todd English's Boston-based restaurant group, but his home base is at Olives in the Bellagio Hotel & Casino. From there, he travels the country to help open all new English restaurants, getting bar systems set up and creating cocktail lists. He also touches base with existing restaurants on a regular basis to update beverages and incorporate new spirits, always working to "keep things fresh and creative," MacDonnell says. He has a mission to "stay on the cutting edge of cocktails."

Olives Las Vegas re-opened in August after renovations--which included an expansion of the bar area. This is where MacDonnell does his best work, he says. One new signature drink is a fusion of Belvedere Pomrancza Vodka, fresh lemon, pineapple and pomegranate juices, and a splash of orange curacao, topped with a float of Gosling's rum. Another blends aromatic fresh ginger and mint with Belvedere Cytrus, finished with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Another new player in Vegas is Rodney Kettler, bartender at Piero Selvaggio's Valentino in the Venetian Hotel. He's been plying his craft in Sin City for 6 years, an economics graduate from Minnesota who, by way of Los Angeles, has parlayed his econ savvy into a successful cocktail career. At Valentino, the cocktail list isn't encyclopedic, and instead features a stable of standards and three signatures: the Grill Cocktail (Campari with prosecco), Valentino Punch (Grey Goose L'Orange, watermelon liqueur, apple liqueur, sweet and sour, pineapple juice and a splash of cranberry) and the Vanilla Swirl (Grey Goose La Vanille, Chambord, pineapple juice and sweet and sour).

Kettler says he gets his biggest kicks when an undecided customer says simply, "make me something different, I usually like X, Y and Z." On-the-spot creativity and seeing a bar full of happy customers are what jazz Kettler about his job, which he doesn't really consider to be a job at all.

He developed the Valentino Punch and Vanilla Swirl for the recent Conde Nast Grey Goose Tastemakers Contest, testing his mettle against bartenders across the country. The Vanilla Swirl came out on top, one of the four national winners (there was one winner for each of the Grey Goose vodka flavors: traditional, L'Orange, Le Citron and La Vanille). Not your everyday cocktail competition, this one culminated in a New York City photo shoot with other winning bartenders and an advertisement featuring them that appeared in late-summer issues of Vogue, Vanity Fair and Conde Nast Traveler.

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Cocktail competitions are a leading indicator that bar professionals are being encouraged to advance their careers, grow their skills and challenge cocktail norms. Since 2002, executives at the luxurious MGM Beau Rivage resort in Biloxi, MS, have held their Signature Drink Contest, an annual competition for the property's bartenders and bar porters. It's the finale of a 3-day spirits and cocktail training program, conducted by Dale DeGroff last year, with more than 70 participants. The winner for 2004 was Shawn Lane, a casino bartender whose creation, the Beau Aces (Bacardi Limon, orgeat syrup, splash of bitters, soda and Sprite) will now be featured on bar menus throughout the property. "I've got a high respect for bartenders," says George Goldhoff, Beau Rivage VP of food and beverage. "Some just rise to the top," Lane being one of them.

Restaurants Unlimited, Inc., (RUI), the Seattle-based multi-unit operator, also holds an annual staff cocktail contest among all its 30 restaurants in 19 markets across the country. Such collegial competitions help spark creativity and enthusiasm among their staff. Don Adams, vice president of creative development, notes that the contest is a "way to elevate the professionalism of bartenders internally, but also raise the profile of the company as well" with regard to quality cocktails.