Tattooed Cocktails: Peter Markelson's Hospitality at Drink33

In this episode, we sit down with Peter Markelson (@petergasm), the visionary Beverage Director and Partner behind the unique tattoo and cocktail parlor, Drink33. Join us as we explore Peter's journey through iconic venues like Employees Only and the Experimental Cocktail Club. Peter shares his philosophy on hospitality: it's not about being the best bartender or the most creative; it's about being the most kind and hospitable.

Discover how he crafts complex, curated cocktail programs with unconventional ingredients like MSG and tomato in tequila. This episode is a deep dive into bar management, leadership, and the true spirit of hospitality in the modern cocktail scene.

Explore Peter's world:
Instagram:
@PETERGASM
@ DRINK_NY

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hi, I'm a girl and this and I'm Lori Rowlett. And this is Bar Talking Talking Bar. You're access to the heartbeat of New York City's bar and hospitality team.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Host this with on the city of the nervous leaders. We sit down with bartenders, brands and ambassadors, hospitality pros and cocktail lovers.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Whether it's the art of bartending, the hustle behind hospitality, or the wildest bartels, expect raw conversations and listen to the people or your favorite cocktails and keep the nylon alive. If you love bars, it's great. And the stories that bring them to life, follow us, and subscribe to keep the conversations flowing.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Podcast that you didn't know you need new episodes weekly. So we we we started with a little more energy today. We wanted to well, I want to start by acknowledging everyone who has been uh listening to us, everyone who has been watching, and also uh sending us messages and uh you know reposting because that's important. Uh definitely repost it. Exactly. So another week, and today we have an amazing guest.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Why don't you help me uh welcome you by clapping like Peter Michelson, um partner and owner of uh Drink33. Yeah, right? Yeah, um Peter, so we are so thankful that you make space for us. Uh we're very happy to show the audience your story, your journey, and uh, you know, everything in between.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

I'm grateful to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Um and we also say that um many bognos you and we want you to introduce for the audience that doesn't know you and now is gonna know you. Uh please.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

You don't know, now you know. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Uh my name is Peter Markelson. I'm uh one of the partners at at Drink, um known as Drink33 as well. Uh we decided to add the 33 so that it's a little easier to find on Google Maps, but it is just drink.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Um yeah, it's located on 154 East 33rd Street, 33rd and 3rd.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

You know, pretty easy to remember. Drink, drink 33. Um, 1933 was also when Prohibition ended. That was kind of a thing as well. You know, but it's um it's a tattoo and cocktail parlor. We've got a tattoo shop on the second floor, and then uh cocktail bar on the first floor.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Yeah. Um yeah, it's it's uh it's a really cool space. It's the old uh middle branch space. I'm very, very grateful, very privileged.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

It is a really nice space. We have been there in the past, and honestly, we've been planning to try to go. I actually drive. That's it. Angela, let's go. We go right now. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

So see you guys there. Guys, thank you so much. We'll see you later. Thank you for seeing that today.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

But you know, like we always try to um with our guest, uh, you know, people know you as a bartender or the owner, but um they don't know who you are. Yeah, like how do you start it, your journey? Like sometimes you go through like fun times, like horrible times. Um so if you want to share how do you start it in the house. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Yes. So I uh I'm from Washington Heights. Uh my parents are immigrants from the Soviet Union, um, first generation, uh still live in Washington Heights. 17 years ago I got into hospitality and uh there was a there was a bar that had opened up in my neighborhood that I really enjoyed frequenting. It was a beer bar. Um I loved the energy and it was so different from anything that had existed in Washington Heights up until that point. Most bars were like hookah lounges and you know, um, or just like a place to get a burger, you know, a high life or something, or uh, you know, Jaeger, you know. Like, which I love Jaeger. Shout out, sponsor me, love you.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Uh stupid.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

Yeah, there you go. It's green, it works. Yeah, um exactly. Yeah, yeah. But uh, but yeah, so I um, you know, I was badgering the the manager there, and I really wanted to work there and I became friends with the bartender there who was kind of like there pretty much every night. You know, I I went to the bar for him, and it was like the first time I realized like you can have like a following. Like a like there can be human beings that like are so attracted to your your energy, your your attention, your you know, your your love and your ability to be a part of a community that they'll welcome you and and you you know you want to come back for them.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Um and it's and it's really inspiring to see things like that. Um I just I really wanted to be his friend, I really wanted to work with him, under him, you know, and I was like, man, I want to bartend here. And he's like, uh, that's not how it works. You don't just get hired as a 19, 20-year-old bartender. Yeah, you gotta wash some dishes, mop some puke off the floor.

SPEAKER_03 5:25

You know, I mean I I feel like a lot of us when we studied, we went through the face. Yeah. But that's what made you get to the point, you know.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Yeah, I mean, I think it's really cool in our industry now that if you want to bartend, there's enough places that need more workers that they'll they'll teach you. And you don't have to go through all of those same growing pains. And I think that that's there's definitely a lot of beauty in that. Um, but I think you gain a lot more humility and grace working your way up.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Many times, like you know, like you said, you see the bartender and you're like, oh, I want to be a bartender, and it it feels like, oh, just you're you're just gonna learn some recipes and you know mix it and that's it. But it's like we we call it, right? Hospitality, what is service, how you're gonna, you know, talk to your guests, uh, how you're gonna set up your stations, um, and how you're gonna talk to other co-workers, right? Because uh we have uh, you know, there's like unfortunately people that they don't go to hospitality, they go higher for whatever reasons, and sometimes they are like super rude with the course with the customers, with the co-workers, and sometimes they don't know what is missing place and things like that. And you know, sometimes also it's hard when they uh they don't want to learn. And yes, it it puts the team in a in uh risk, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:56

Yeah, I think it's also because I mean not mentioning that you wanted to work with the bartender, you can like already want it and know that you really want to like be or or learn from him because he's showcasing this good energy, like you know, in a way. You know, the hospitality part, uh plus you know, the the the drinks and and the food or the moment, you know, at the at the place, like you said, like the following, because I like the guy, how the guy uh provides service to me, how I feel welcome. So I want to go back and I want to learn from that person, you know. I want to learn to be like him, not be him, but like, you know, because when you m uh work your way up, you basically develop your own own character.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

Uh of course you learn for because there's an establishment who has to teach you uh, you know, policies and procedures and movements and whatnot. But it it is important to learn from somebody, and I think that's important because when somebody puts you under the wing, per se, uh you cannot become the main tee and you learn as you go. And it's always better, I mean, in my own, you know, experience, I think what I've seen is always better to see somebody who started from you know point A and go to point C rather than going A to C. You know what I'm saying? Like, sure, yeah, yeah, missing missing. Exactly exactly. So you build your way up and you learn, you absorb more if you do those steps rather than just going A to C you know.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

So how do you learn your steps to weigh up?

SPEAKER_02 8:26

So yeah, so I so I got hired, I was I was I was lucky. I got hired, they they hired me on a very busy shift. Uh because the the person who was bar backing didn't want to work it, basically. Uh they knew it was gonna be a shit show. It was um uh Yeshiva University had an open bar event. Oh um I mean it was a mess. It was I was they they were drinking like it was a civil war and they were getting their limbs cut off. They're like tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

They just ran the dust down like a tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

I mean they were like they were like horses without dogs. I mean they were fucking running rampant, you know. I mean they they didn't give a fuck about tomorrow. Yeah they were in that moment and man, so many, so many things to clean, so many things to do. You know what I mean? Uh and and and and I didn't end up getting hired uh until you worked at night? So I I worked at training shift, um, and then I and I didn't end up getting hired until maybe like three months later, four months later. I kept asking, asking, and then you know, finally whatever they they hired me. Uh the big the big gripe was uh it was a beer bar, you know, 26 beers on tap, another hundred in bottles and cans and whatever. But they were like, I mean, he's four pounds soaking wet. How the fuck is he gonna lift a keg? You know, and that was the main argument that the the GM had. Um and and the you know, the owner was like, oh, give him a chance, you know, he works hard, he's he's passionate, you know, he doesn't know anything that he can learn, you know? Yeah. Um so he did hire me. And you know, my best friend at the time, who uh now he's the GM of uh a really cool beer boiler in the West Village called uh Blind Tiger, amazing bar. Go to Blind Tiger, go visit Lucas. Um ask for Lucas. Ask for Lucas. Don't ask for Lucas, he'll hate that. He's gonna hate that. Actually, ask for Lucas, he's gonna hate that. St. Peter sent me. Yeah, St. Peter sent me, he said uh no, I'm not the owner there. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

No, no, but Lucas is like you go.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Yeah. Lucas will stab me in the in the in the leg with a with a dull knife. Um but with a dull knife, yeah. Um but you know, my my best friend and I uh lived across the street from each other, and and he was a bar back there as well. And there would be a keg that would need to be changed, and I I can do that, so I would just call him and he would go and just change the keg for me. I mean, like to say that out loud, it sounds insane. Can you imagine you're working a busy bar backing shift and you call your friend to go and do your job for you? That's I mean, that's like That's what you call a friend. That's a friend, yeah. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

Because imagine, like, he would probably say, you know what, I'm busy. But he never did that.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

He never he always showed up. He always showed up. Wow. And what's his name? Lucas. Lucas. Hey Lucas. You know, thank you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we'll go together. Um, but yeah, so so that's kind of where I started. Um, you know, I was slowly trying to learn to bartend, and then uh I ended up getting an opportunity to work at this sister restaurant that was like half a step above a diner. And I thought it was like fancy because they had like uh stale bread that they would press in a in a pinny to make it hot, and then give you oil with like a bunch of different herbs and spices in it. Oh, that sounds like it's delicious, it's a great way to not throw out stale bread, you know. Um but yeah, that was the kind of place that it was, and and the way that it was done was they kind of segregated this the dining hall from the the bar. And so the bartender took care of the the bar and like the few seats outside the bar like tables that are there, and then the server would take care of like the whole dining hall and then the outside patio.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 12:21

So one server or multiple server?

SPEAKER_02 12:23

I mean, I was I was fucking I was incredible, so it was just one when I was working. Oh it took me a long time to get there. I was at that bar for like or at that restaurant for like three years, uh four years. But um, yeah, the the servers would make their own drinks. Yeah. Wow, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Yeah, and but it was like with like two sections.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

What's that?

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Biz like with two sections and still making your cocktails.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh there was 13 tables uh inside and then I believe like 10 outside or something, but they were all like along the wall. Yeah. And the tables, like, I mean, it was like the entire room was probably maybe three times the size of this room. So it wasn't huge. I mean, all the tables were like together. Yeah. Um and then the bar would be, you know, maybe a sixty feet away, you know. Oh, okay. So it wasn't it wasn't bad. Um you know, and I and I didn't know anything, and I would, you know, I would mess with the bartender and ask her questions, and and she was really patient with me. And I was like, what's in an old fashioned again? How do you make a sangria? Uh, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Um, you were like doing like I was making the drinks, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we were I mean, this was you know, 17, 16 years ago. Uh but yeah, it was me that was 16 years ago, I think. Almost no. No, 15. It was 15 years ago. But um uh yeah, like you know, the the drinks were like I mean, they were like Applebee's recipes, you know what I mean? This wasn't like anything amazing, you know. It was um but it was cool, you know. I I worked my way up, I started bartending there, and then I ended up actually like I I guess being the head bartender. There wasn't like a title. I just I would do inventory, I would tell the owner, like, hey, we should order this. I was in charge of making their cocktail menu, you know, and and the cocktail menu was nothing, you know. It was I mean it was nothing, you know. You could you could probably get something better at a dive bar now than what I was making back then. You know. Uh I mean we we started using fresh pressed juices because I ended up explaining that it's cheaper and I proved it. Now I don't necessarily know that it's cheaper. Uh it's a little easier to make super juice, but yeah, that's a whole nother story.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Well, I I have to you we can talk later about later, but I always feel like um for some reason, you know, like uh in the past we were talking about like oh the the drinks or the sweeteners, they have a lot of like you know, chemicals and stuff like that. And then nowadays I saw Paul's like saying nowadays we like we put this, this and that and everything, right? Um and uh my only uh opinion about the superjuice is like if you don't know what are you doing, it tastes like horrible. Like yeah, like for sure.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

I mean like I um so like at at at my place we we have a bunch of like classic cocktails on the menu where we don't use uh super juice. So super juice we uh we make for um my my signature drinks um that I that I end up clarifying.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

And then we have a little bit of leftover super juice. Uh it typically only gets used when I have guests, like friends in the industry. I have this sort of fun thing that I do where I have them go behind my bar and make a daiquiri. You know. Um it was uh inspired by when I was barbecking at employees only, I would see you know bartenders from all around the world come and they would do that, and I was like, that's cool. Yeah, that's a fun little I feel like that's a classic, yeah, because uh, yeah, and I'm I mean daiquiries probably the only cocktail that I drink when I go out, you know. Typically I I stick to whiskey and beer. Yeah. Um but but yeah, so I have I have friends of mine from the industry when they come visit my bar or when they come visit, you know, the other bartenders working, I always say, like, hey, make sure before they leave, get a little video of them making uh, you know, a daiquiri. Um but other than that, we use uh what we call acid bath. It's just an acid solution. Um we adjust it to the citrus of a uh lime and then all of my cordials and syrups, they're uh all measured. So I measure the the bricks percentage so that they're always 30%. So that all of my syrups, cordials, sacrums, they all um end up being able to be interchanged in anything. Oh yeah, and and that's kind of how we create like a sort of standardization, you know, at at my place. Um but yeah, we typically we use uh the acid bath.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

That's you know that's cool because so you could you can still reuse some of the leftover uh peels and pay you know, whenever you use Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's very simple.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

I I mean I I use the the whole food. I have I have very little space. Yeah. So you know, like you know, when we when we buy um you know, when we buy produce and and perishables, like we have to make sure that it it gets used as soon as possible. Yeah, because a lot of the times they just get discarded and it's yeah, we I we can't we can't really I I really try to minimize the waste for sure. You know, like I've got a cocktail in my menu that uses it comes with like a it's like a 20-month-aged Parmigiano Reggiano that we we add some spiced manuka honey that we spice in-house, and then we add uh Maldon salt that we blitz with black truffle trimmings, um and that goes on top, and then it's uh this beautiful like uh vodka martini.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

I was thinking martini, and I've got a lot of it. It's a vodka martini.

SPEAKER_02 18:11

I make a croissant liqueur.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Um use that croissants or yeah, I I take I so I take uh brown butter. Well, I take butter, I I you know, make it into ghee and I I brown it. Okay. Um and then I pull that out, let it rest so that it gets to room temperature. Uh, and then I make uh caramel syrup with just granulated sugar, you know. Um and then like some vanilla extract and and some cinnamon sticks, and then pull that out, and then I take croissants and I roughly chop them, you know, throw them in. They get they get coated in all of that butter and that caramel that we just made, and then that all goes into a sous-vie with a neutral grain spirit. Um I'm not gonna promote them because fuck you, pay me. Um listen, man, nothing nothing in this world is free at this point. I've realized that.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Um It's all about the money.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Uh no, but seriously, if you want to sponsor me to make my uh croissant liqueur, that'd be great. Any neutral grain? Any neutral grains here, it doesn't matter to me. Yeah. Um I I'll take anyone. Uh but yeah, so I so I I put that in the sous-V with some spices and herbs, and then um we make uh uh invisible tomato. Um add that. Um I take a blend of different fortified wines um with the vodka, and then we add saline solution and olive bitters. Okay. You know. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 19:41

Um it all sounds really, really good. Like it's complex. Yeah. But when when you started talking about that, I was like, I'm trying like to imagine that in my my mind. But I feel like my palate was kind of like savoring it already. I'm like, mmm. I decided by thinking of it.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

And and thank you for explaining that because that comes with another part of like um when people go to bars now and they say, it's super expensive, why it's super expensive, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:07

But um it's super expensive because you know, the the like the the city is obviously the city expensive.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

It's expensive, but also it gets like, you know, you put a sandwich and everything. It's it's and it's kind of like you know, like the process and the technique takes time.

SPEAKER_03 20:26

It's just not one thing. Like, you know, if you can compare a cocktail that you're describing versus a margarita, you can build a margarita on the spot. Yeah. But this this cocktail, it's unique in its own way because you creating it, it's something that you're only gonna get in this place, so you can you can come and have it here, enjoy it. Uh and and I think that's what makes it, you know, like the in the price, like you know, like the city itself, it's already like the cost of living here is is expensive. Uh sometimes I get people who get uh surprised by the prices. Uh I remember a few years ago, uh, you know, 13 was the kind of like your baseline. Now everywhere in the city you go, it's at least 19 to 20. I think it's 20. I think it's 20. Like 90 to 20.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

And it and it's like yeah, it's I mean, you know, I won't name any bars, but you know, I've I've gone out and spent $85 on two drinks.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

You know what I mean? And that seems and you know what? Like you're you're not just paying for the technique, you're not just paying for the labor, you're not just paying for the hospitality. You know, you're you're renting a space. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Uh if you want to uh drink for free, I think you should be able to. I firmly believe that like if you want to drink for free, you should just pay rent for the space that you take up.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Understand how much your square footage is worth and how much needs to be done for that square footage. And you just pay that and then you drink for free every day. Yeah. That's fine. That's it. I can guarantee you it's a lot more than what you're gonna pay for a drink. Um no, I'm kidding. Uh but yeah, I mean, all my drinks, there there's definitely like a lot of Prep for them. But like I said, you know, I try to uh I try to be a little as sustainable as we can. So like the the rinds from the Parmesan that gets infused into a tequila cocktail. Um that's also like a martini variation. Um that's the one you you may have seen it. It's the one with the little MSG cocaine baggy.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Uh actually that was so crazy because uh I was looking at a video that uh a friend she was yesterday at your bar. Lynette. Lynette.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Well Lynette, yeah, that's so I went to high school with Lynette. Oh really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've known Lynette since she was. What a small world we're living in. Since she was 13. 13 we've known each other. Yeah. I love her.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

Yeah, we love her too. Um, but then I saw the video and then I saw this guy with a little bag and putting the powder in the thing, and I was like, why is she why are they posting this? This is so illegal. And and then when he was like doing it, I swear I was I was thinking that he's gonna snore it. And then he just put it in his mouth, and I was like, oh, okay. And then he drinks, and I was like, wow, that was crazy.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

So the the idea behind it was I I wanted to have a couple cocktails that um gave you the edginess. You know, again, like it's a tattoo and cocktail parlor, right? The tattoo shop's upstairs. There's tons of nights where the upstairs is not being utilized um as a bar, you know, um, but there's a tattoo going on. You know, if someone comes in, like our shop is open from 11 to uh six, um, and the bar opens up at six. But if you come in at, you know, you have an appointment for three, let's say, and it's you're willing to sit for eight hours. I mean, to get a tattoo. I mean, look, you've got tattoos, I'm sure you understand. You know, they take time, they they take a lot of time. So, you know, sometimes we'll have service uh and um you'll hear the buzzing upstairs.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

And somebody's screaming, ah!

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Hopefully they're not screaming. No, but um, you know, it's it's it's a cool thing. They're like, oh, what is that? And we'll tell them about the tattoo shop, and you know, they'll go upstairs and and and and they'll see that. Yeah, so it's a cool, I think it's a really cool experience, you know. Like I think that if I was a guest in a in a cocktail bar, like I think that that would be really, really fun for me. Um you know, and it's still fun for me when I when I go upstairs and I see someone getting tattooed, I'm like, this is so cool. You know, it feels a little dangerous. Uh and so I wanted my cocktails to sort of reflect that as well, you know. So I have, you know, that that one with the MSG baggie, uh, you know, and and it's such a fun, fun experience. You know, I think that people like the interactive aspect of drinking nowadays as well. You know, so a lot of my cocktails they have like an accoutrement, or there's like a ceremonial sort of thing, you know, but it's also it's essentially a Kila Martini variation, uh very juicy, and um, you know, it's it's it's supposed to remind you of the first time you did a sh you had a shot of tequila, right? Now it's not cool for you to go up to a bar, order a shot of tequila, ask the bartender, hey, can I get some salt? Can you cut some lines? Like, oh, you need training wheels? Yeah, that's cool. But like there was something fun about that experience, you know, that like still, like it's it's fun, like it's cool, like you're doing something with your friends, you know? So I was like, it'd be really cool to bring that back, but kind of elevate it and then also make it a little bit more grungy, more like risque. Like, should I be doing this? You know what?

SPEAKER_03 25:31

You know what I think actually about the shots is because people started drinking a little bit more mezcal. Yeah, and mezcal doesn't require salt. Like you don't see people taking shots of a scal and putting salt on your hands. So, and I think that's why they kind of like divert it to like just having a very hard to or just like a you know shot or whatever, yeah. Clean shots, yeah. Uh, which sometimes I think is better because when you take two tequila shots with a lot of salt in it, your stomach's gonna hurt.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Oh yeah, 100%. With the with the salt in the lime, yeah, of course. So at at my place, the it's it's it's MSG, then you have the cocktail, and then there's a little uh tomato chip that I dehydrate.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

Yeah. Um I add a bunch of different acids, some sugar, some salt, you know, and it gets dehydrated, and it's like the umami makes your mouth water and like salivate and dry out.

SPEAKER_03 26:27

I want to I want to invite you guys to come and sit with us and have a drink because my mouth is just like and my mind is thinking of it. I kind of want to drink.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

I feel like I said no earlier, but now I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

I want to touch it, I want to touch it. So this sounds super exciting, and I and I know it takes a lot of like knowledge and practice and everything. So going back, like you were saying about your um your experience working as a jerk. Um, sorry, I digressed.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

It's super cool because I get excited talking about drinks.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

No, but it's super cool because I feel that reflects that you know this young guy that he didn't know how to bar back.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

Nowadays you're like, um dehydrating and cutting us and also And like it like the uh yeah, like your mind is in a different phase, you know?

SPEAKER_00 27:16

So obviously it takes time and takes knowledge and experience and everything. So you were doing this um bartending, uh your first bartending in uh Washington Height.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

So what happened and something?

SPEAKER_02 27:28

So so uh yeah, so I so I worked there for uh uh quite a while and and it was a lot of fun, um, you know, and then you know, like everything, things run its course, you know, you you you want to grow more, you know, like I want to s like at that point I was learning a lot very slowly because I didn't have I didn't have anyone to teach me. I had outgrown everyone that I worked with. Um and so and and the internet just wasn't like where it is. Like it's so cool to be on a podcast like this. This didn't exist, you know what I mean? Exactly you you wanted to know something about like your favorite bartender or your favorite bart, you had to go visit. You know what I mean? Or you had to have a friend who knows them, you know? Yeah uh you know the this social media aspect is like insane and and so wonderful in a lot of ways. Um I mean detrimental as well, I guess, but it it it has a lot of beauty. Um I used to get off of work because it was like they closed at like by like 11 midnight, and then I'd go take a you know uh a train downtown to go visit, you know, all the the best bars that existed in New York. And I would sit and I would like ask the bartender questions. You know, that's that was the only way you learned.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

You remember some of them?

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Yeah, yeah. There was there was a great guy, um, he uh he uh used to work at employees only, um, Dev Johnson. He's now I believe he's the the manager of uh the quarter store, if I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

Or maybe 86. I don't know if he he left or not, but he was really kind to me. Um, you know, he shared his phone number with me. I was like a baby bartender, I would text him all the time. That's okay. Um Yeah, you know, I I would go visit him like all the time and throw money at him to try to ask him as many questions as I could. You know, because I'm like again, nothing is free, right? Yeah. Uh, you know, and I would ask him about different types of absinthe, and he's like, dude, it's fucking absinthe. You're using like three dashes. Who gives a shit about the brand? Take the cheapest one or the one that's being given to you for free, you know. Yeah. Uh you can make a rattlesnake, you know. Or like, oh, how do you how do you guys make an old fashioned? What do you guys do for your Manhattan? You know. Um, and that's kind of how I learned, you know, slowly. Um and then I started trying to implement those things at the restaurant that I was at. And, you know, I realized like, okay, like this place has kind of run its course for me and my growth. Um and I wanted to continue. And so I started working at this really cool uh whiskey bar that was like it had cocktails that at the time I felt were like wow, but I mean, I don't know, like it's a it's a hibiscus sour. You know, like okay, like that. You know. It's mint and hot sauce with vodka and citrus, you know. Um which was kind of like I think the beginning of like this boom of like well there's there's more modern techniques that are being implemented now that you know more culinary sort of things that are being done. Uh which I think is I think it's really cool to to know that there are bars that are like toing, you know, things like you know, f freezing techniques to wrap it into freezing techniques to clarify, you know. Um Japan, that's what they were in in China. Yeah, like it's it's so cool to me. Like like all these things that you can you can now like see, and it's kind of like the norm, you know. Um but yeah, so I so I worked at this whiskey bar. I had like three shifts, four shifts a week, and one of them was a double. And every Sunday I would wash every uh bottle of whiskey in the back bar. There was like three or four hundred bottles.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

Well, you had to wash every I didn't have to, I chose to.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

Oh, okay. I chose to. It was a slow night or a slow day or whatever between brunch and and night service. So I was like, okay, like so I had a this is actually what happened. At the restaurant that I had worked at previously, the owner had asked me about one of the bottles behind the bar. And I couldn't tell him anything. And he was like, You've you know you've been working for me for four years? Four years. Those bottles have been sitting behind you. And you can't tell me anything about them. And I was like, Yeah. He's like, You consider yourself the best? The best doesn't know anything? Like that's normal to you? Um, I was like, I was so embarrassed, man. I was so embarrassed. But I was but I was humbled. But I was humbled, you know, because there's there's a thing that happens, I think, in bartending that's really interesting. And in anything, really, right? Music or whatever. Um, when you're learning a new language. You learn 20% and you believe you have 80% of the knowledge. Because you absorb everything so quickly in the beginning. You know, because you're so eager, it's all so new. Every everything to you is like, I want to learn this, you know. Um and I was I was really humbled by that. Uh, and so when I went to the whiskey bar, that was one of the things I I was like, yeah, I'll I'll take the the slow shift, you know. I mean, not I'll take it, that's what they offered me. Let's be honest. Uh but uh yes, I I I would wash every single bottle, like wipe it down, whatever, wipe down the shelf. And I would choose uh originally it was two, then it became three, then it became five whiskeys uh every week that I would taste. Okay. And I would learn everything I could that was available on the bottle or online. Um, you know, didn't have Chat GPT by back then, that would have been really nice. Uh but um, you know, I you you do that over the course of two years, you learn quite a bit. You learn a lot, yeah. You know. And then I wanted to get into like more cocktails, and there was a really cool bar in Harlem that I was like really into, and so it's closer to home. That's kind of nice. Um, the Honeywell, amazing bar. Oh, yeah, we love that. So I started working there. Um I was learning a you know quite a bit about uh cocktails as well. You know, there was a guy, uh Evan, he's now uh working at Nobu downtown. But he taught me a lot. I mean, he taught me how to throw my first drink, you know. That was cool. Now all of the cocktails in my bar are either thrown or stirred. I only have one shake and drink, and it's because it has egg white. But um, yeah, because everything else is either clarified or uses the acid bathroom. Um, but you know, and and I learned so much there, and it was so cool to me again, like you know, and and then I kind of just started collecting badges like all over the city. I want to learn this, okay. Where do I go? You know, yeah. So then I've I worked at R O K C the Japanese bar um opened by two former Angel Share um bartenders and one one guy who worked at the original experimental cocktail club um here in New York when it was on Bowery 15 years ago. Um I learned a lot from them, and that was a really again humbling experience.

SPEAKER_03 35:02

How many years did you work with it? Or how long did you have to do it?

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Uh at them I worked about a year or something, and then the pandemic happened. Oh, okay. So this is yeah. Um yeah, and then uh then I the pandemic happened. I worked at Amori Amargo.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Okay. Um and then How was your experience at Amori Amargo?

SPEAKER_02 35:25

It was awesome, it was so much fun. You know, like it's awesome. I loved it. I loved it. It like again, like I'd why I was like, oh like I have a limited knowledge of like Amari and I was like, man, it'd be really cool to like learn some stuff. And that was like again, like I've been really lucky to work at all the places that I love to go to. Like that's such a cool thing for me, you know. Um like yeah, it's it's uh it's awesome. It's it's really cool to me.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

That that's so cool because uh it gives you a different perspective. Yeah. And what they do for that for why and the reason of why they're doing it, because I mean I'm gonna use uh Mari Margo for example, and we've been there and we love it. Yeah, we don't go over there.

SPEAKER_02 36:05

240 square feet, man. Yeah, it's very small.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

And I remember when they used to have the small space in the back. I don't know if they still have it.

SPEAKER_02 36:11

It's still the so they they they changed the space in the front again um to uh to make room for one of their sister restaurants. Um and now they just have the original space. 240 square feet. They give it a little facelift. Right. It looks really pretty. Yeah, I was just I was just there, uh the the head bartender Bruce, it was his last day. I know.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

I was gonna say it was his last day. He I I saw him recently, but um I remember during the pandemic, I was trying to get some bitters uh from the city and I was trying to order online. I can't remember. And the only way I could get bitters from was a Moy Margo. So I ended up going there. Uh because they had like a front a storefront, I think you remember.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:53

And they had bitters. And I remember grabbing like three different kinds of bitters. Oh, and then Bruce, Bruce was there. But oh, he was also wearing a mask. Yeah, of course. And I met Bruce through through Nuri because Nuri and Bruce uh worked together for a little bit in uh at Italy?

SPEAKER_00 37:07

No, uh the Giandori.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

Oh, cool. Yeah, that's it. Nice. The Jandori, that's that was uh short lived.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Yeah. So you know, basically closed or what? Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

I think that was also Saj Badraski's uh Yeah, actually the the reason I started working there is because I really want to uh be trained by him. Um but unfortunately I always said like uh he passed during that that week. Um so I I didn't mean him.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

He passed during that week.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Oh wow, so this is 2016 then.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

Yeah, yeah. So I remember when he passed.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Yeah, it was really, really, you know, tragic. And uh but you know, uh we I I met uh Bruce there and then eventually I I reconnect to him with Amora Marco.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

And Amora Marco, because um, I mean, and one of the reasons honestly why I started listening to podcasts is because of Southern. Yeah, so I mentioned this earlier.

SPEAKER_02 38:05

A speakeasy podcast, go listen to it. Souther Tea. And I the reason why I listened to it because I'm waiting for you to invite me. I'll just do podcasts. Forget owning Amora. Can I just go and do podcasts all the time?

SPEAKER_03 38:18

Listen, what do we do?

SPEAKER_02 38:19

This is this is it. What did you do today?

SPEAKER_03 38:20

I did a podcast again. I was talking about it. I remember the first time I heard uh about the podcast is because one of our former uh directors, she was invited to the podcast. And and you know, she didn't say anything, but I think she posted it. Or I don't know why how I found out. Um and then I saw her and I listened, you know, also I started listening. I was like, oh wow, this is pretty cool. And I started listening to it. And then uh I started listening to two different podcasts, you know, in Spanish too, and because that's my first language. I started to speak Spanish. I mean, started like listening in Spanish. Um so I was like, wow, that's cool. Like, why can we like all the information that you can hear from podcasts is so good, but at the same time, like we decided, why don't we tell stories, like the stories that we have, because us as you know, as humans, they don't see this part right here, right? Yeah, yeah. They only see those six inches of marble of marble, like you said, like for sure. Like that's like you they just see you as a voice and the robot, they're heartless uh person. But sometimes yell at. Exactly. But uh girl. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I think like connecting with people and people understanding what we do and and our passion, our profession, and the human part of why we do this, you know, like we love it. Because you have to love it. You have to love what you do because working late nights is not easy, and um, your body's not gonna take it for like forever. Um, you know, uh whatever you have to go through to get to the uh position you want to be at, it's your person, like personal uh you want to if you want to grow, grow is there. It's just for you to take the chance and ask for it. Because a lot of times I feel like I see people trying to like move up, but they don't ask for the position or they don't ask to be moved up. Uh it's just up to you, you know, like hey, I want to learn, like you say, you know, I want to learn from somebody else. Yeah, I want to go there. Like I want to put myself in this uh uncomfortable position where I have to learn more. And I feel like that's the part that you always have to keep us growth-wise, you know, like you want to learn. You always want to learn something different. Everywhere, every day, every day. For sure. What were you about to say?

SPEAKER_00 40:33

No, I was gonna I think everything got connected to like the story. Like you were very eager to learn, you were very enthusiastic about like, you know, mentioning like I didn't learn my back bottles because probably you were like thinking about the front of like how I would but then I just didn't think it nobody nobody had ever mentioned it to me.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

I didn't even think about like you know, because again, like this is a a restaurant in Washington Heights, right? Now there's seminars, there's you know, there's tastings, all these brands are like, oh I'll come in and I'll teach you about you know uh agave spirits, I'll teach you about the different types of rums, I'll teach you, you know, uh what's the happy hour?

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

Yeah, you know, yeah. Um but that didn't exist. It just didn't exist two decades ago. No, it wasn't.

SPEAKER_03 41:22

That wasn't a thing. We also talk about sometimes when you had I mean, we if you started working at a place, you just go there and perform, you know, like the day they train you, where things are, how do you do it, how do you surf, how do you uh, you know, spill wise, how do you tell people what you have to sell because at the end of the day you have something to you know offer. Uh but sometimes you don't really get to see the entire back bar, you know, as a bartender, as a bar bartender perspective. Even if you're a bar back, you start learning, like, hey, can you give me a bottle of keto wine for a summer? I don't, you know, a bottle of wabaca. Can you give me a bottle of whiskey? Can you get me can you give me a bottle of tequila? Like you know the bottle by the name, but you don't know where it comes from. Yeah, like you haven't you have to. I know nothing about it. Exactly. You you don't you don't taste it. Uh you don't have a little bit of history what the bottle is called why it's called uh where it comes from originally, you know, like if it's a Kentucky whiskey versus a Tennessee whiskey, what is that? Or is it is it uh Japanese style whiskey? Is it like uh Scotch whiskey? You know, because for us we generalize whiskey.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

Keep going about the whiskey I want to learn.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

Right? Like like like when we categorize things and and we can like break it down in into where it comes from and like knowing the bottom. I feel like that's when you start like developing that this like um passion the passion per se, yeah, but also the your knowledge gives you the confidence to say 100%. To say things, you know, this is what I have. Everything in the back bar that I have right now, I have to tell you story bad. Yeah, yeah. It gives me something to give you, you know. For sure. Offer you perfectly. For sure. You know, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:55

But I think also like it comes with the the evolution as well as as the community with bartenders. Yeah. Because I think in the past, it was like, you know, the the bartenders that they didn't want to share anything and they want to share.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Yeah, gatekeeping. Yeah, gatekeeping. But they were like that was definitely a thing when I was growing up. The bartenders now it's like everyone wants to tell you something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

The bartenders that they were not like also know like they didn't have the knowledge. Yeah. So they were just telling you whatever they know at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 43:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:25

And I feel like, you know, eventually we I feel like we start doing that, like, you know, it happens to me. I don't want you to have like to feel so I want to share this.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

And um, so then after you work at the whiskey bar, what happened?

SPEAKER_02 43:43

So I worked at the whiskey bar. Um yeah, then I so then I started working in Harlem, and that was cool. Uh you know. Um and then after Harlem, it was, you know, Amoriam Margot. Uh after Amoriam Margle, I had I had a personal thing I had to deal with, and then um there I was I I finally dealt with it and everything was cool and then um I like went out for my first drink in like six months or something. And I see a posting on Facebook about like this bar that's looking for uh bartenders, but you have to start as a bar back. And I know what the bar is, and I'm like, this is fucking cool. So I applied. Uh they were very ambiguous, they didn't mention you know the name or anything, but I I knew exactly what it was for. Um and I was like, man, like this is like my dream, you know. I would love to to be here. Um and I got hired and I I worked at employees only for two years as a as a bar back, and that was awesome. Um really great community of of of bartenders, really amazing individuals that are really passionate. They have such a high standard. Um yeah, I was I was really, really fortunate, really lucky. Um and after two years I ended up uh leaving um and I ended up going to Experimental Cocktail Club uh when they opened and I got to like serve my mentor from R O K C uh Joji at Experimental Cocktail Club and he had worked at the original in New York and that was kind of cool to like see, yeah. Yeah, and then you know I ended up seeing that some of the drinks that he's put on his menu are like definitely inspired by some of the drinks that were on the original menu of Experimental Cocktail Club back when it was in New York. Um, you know, they have their own classics, uh and and that was really cool, like to just kind of have that full circle moment, you know, and then my uh my now partner at at Drink, um Ricardo, he's one of the managers at Employees Only. And I would I would leave Experimento and I would go and hang out with him and you know, shoot the shit while he's working. Um and then he hit me up one day and he was like, Hey man, uh I know you want to open up a bar in New Orleans, but what about New York? Uh and he told me the concept that he had and um in the space, and I was like, Yeah, this this is cool. You know, I like this. This is this is a special idea, you know. Um when do you guys started talking about the the like Um I think we started talking sometime in the summer?

SPEAKER_03 46:40

The summer of 2025?

SPEAKER_02 46:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We started talking in the summer. I was like pretty sure this was gonna happen just before my birthday in September. Um in October I was like, okay, this is happening. Uh and then end of October, early in November, I quit. Um experimental, yeah, and I and I started focusing on the space and and you know what we're gonna have to do. Um you know, there was a lot of things to clean. I mean, the place was closed for like a year and a half, you know. There was a lot of things that needed to be maintenance, and you know, I mean, we we tried to put in a lot of love. We're we're we're actually very lucky. We have an incredible landlord. Um you know, we wanted to make sure we did right by him, we did right by his space, you know. We redid his floors, we, you know, closed up all the brick, you know, um, so that it, you know, it used to be you would touch it and it would like crumble in your hands. You know, but we we closed it all up, closed all the holes, we put silicone everywhere, we added, you know, crown molding, um, you know, we m maintenanced all of the you know different freezers, fridges.

SPEAKER_03 48:00

Um they haven't been touched for over years.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Yeah, you know, there was there was a lot of work that we that we put in, you know. Um we definitely wanted to like kind of spruce up the place, but also, you know, it's hard opening up a bar, so there are certain things that like you know you can't afford to do, you know. Yeah, especially especially in a city like New York where you're yeah, so but I'm I'm very happy with the way it looks. I think it looks fucking great. Uh I I love it. I I cannot wait to have you guys.

SPEAKER_03 48:29

I can't wait to go, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 48:30

But like it was you and Ricardo, but how many people were involved, like you know, helping you out to clean and everything?

SPEAKER_02 48:36

Because I guess it was like I mean it was like uh we had the I mean, we had Ricardo, we had his his wife, she came, um Chris Torres, our you know, tattoo artist, who's also one of the uh purveyors. Um his girlfriend, you know, Vicky. Uh we had uh Chef Massimo, you know, he cleaned some stuff as well. Um I mean there was there was like you know a lot of a lot of work to do. Yeah, a lot of a lot of stuff to do, you know, for sure. Um but it's cool. Like it it's cool to like remember that. Like I have, you know, photos of before and after and and that's really kind of Yeah. It's a it's a yeah, it's a point of contention for sure.

SPEAKER_03 49:25

Like it's it's really cool to Yeah, it's a proud moment, you know, like from like from hearing that you started you wanted to work as a barback to now owning your own place. It's two separate kinds. I see kind of like lifetimes in a way because in cat years, us, I'm gonna compare it like uh years to cat years, because it doesn't seem like it, but one year could basically be three years, you know, in hospitality.

SPEAKER_02 49:51

Oh, for sure. I mean me and my my my uh head of RD uh June, he um him and I were just talking about this uh yesterday. Where he was like, man, it doesn't feel like three fucking months. It feels a lot longer.

SPEAKER_03 50:06

It feels longer sometimes. You know, um or time sometimes flies like that. Yeah. And we know time you're like almost hitting summer.

SPEAKER_02 50:13

Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 50:18

So we have uh I think you have a moment of like that was super cool, like your uh video that you post and you can.

SPEAKER_03 50:28

Oh, when you open. I think that's just so I want to hear the story first. Oh, that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 50:36

Nothing dies on the internet, I'll tell you that much. Um yeah, I um yeah, I was really defeated one night, and um, you know, it was like I didn't realize like okay, no marketing, no PR, no sign, uh you know, no online presence. Um the place looks like it's a part of a brown side. I mean, I mean it looks like uh your your building. Yeah, you know what I mean. That's what the outside looks like. You could never know that anything's there, and you know, it's been closed for so long that people aren't anticipating anything to be there, you know, and it's it's winter time, so I can't exactly open the doors to be like, hey guys, come on in. Um, and there was like one day where like nobody showed up for like four hours, and I was like, this is horrifying. Like we just opened and and it's you know um dry January, uh, you know, we're we're having snowstorms. Um and so I just posted this video. I knew it was gonna I knew it was gonna do well. Like I knew it was gonna get I mean it's TikTok, right? Like I had like 40 people following me, but I had had a couple of videos at this point that have gotten, you know, a hundred, hundred and fifty thousand views or something, having less than 50 followers or whatever. Uh and I was like, man, this this will probably get like 20 or 30,000 views. Um I think got like 70,000 in an hour.

SPEAKER_03 52:09

Wow. In an hour.

SPEAKER_02 52:10

And I was like, yeah, and I was like, holy shit. And it's just me, like, you know, I I opened up a bar, I'm proud of it. I've been doing this for 15 years. Um, and and and nobody's coming in. There's no butts and seats, you know, and it it sucks. It's it's really it's really heartbreaking, you know. And it was like two weeks after we opened. We did really well the first two weeks because there was like a bunch of industry people and this and that, and friends and family coming, you know, but like that's not a maintainable business model. You know what I mean? You need you need to impact the community that you're surrounding.

SPEAKER_00 52:41

You want your regular.

SPEAKER_02 52:42

You know, yeah, you know, like there's a hospital, like, you know, a stone's throw away, you know. Why aren't they coming in? There's all these luxury complexes, why aren't they coming in? Other businesses, why aren't they visiting? I'm visiting all the other businesses, you know. Um and I'd post this video of me basically, you know, just sad. Uh and you know, being real raw and emotionally human, you know, showcasing like I worked for this.

SPEAKER_03 53:14

And like I think that that's what gains attraction, honestly, because being genuine and you know, telling your story the way it is. Yeah, you know, you're not putting any anything extra. It's just that's what's happening at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 53:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:26

And I feel like that's what people connected a lot easily. I remember seeing the video too, because I was like, oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 53:31

Everyone's seen the video. Yeah, and I had I had people like that I haven't spoken to in 20 years reach out to me and be like, I saw your video.

SPEAKER_00 53:38

I was like, Well, come here. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 53:41

No, but um, I mean it's But so many people were like, I didn't know you opened a bar until I saw the video.

SPEAKER_03 53:46

So I met you, I met you at uh New York Bartany Week. Yeah, I see your uh your trophy.

SPEAKER_02 53:52

It's you know I didn't get one, yeah? I didn't you know I didn't get one. She she she uh she said like I mean her her and Michael were congratulating me. I thought maybe I I was supposed to get one. Um but uh it's it's nice of you to put it out there so that that way every time I look at you I have to see the fucking fucking that's good. It's good.

SPEAKER_01 54:10

It's like fuck you to me, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:14

No, you know what? I might own a bar, but at least I'm not New York bartender of the year over there.

SPEAKER_03 54:19

No, I so that's the I wasn't even thinking about that, you know. I I met you there because that's where I met you, and then I saw a picture with the same hairstyle that you have right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And when I saw the video, I was like, oh, this is the girl. Yeah, I met you. I met you, and I also made it through John, because John Ware was with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh this is Bruce was there. Bruce was a Bruce came a little later. Yeah, yeah. Uh there was a group of uh people that I met that that I known, you know, for years that I saw that and they were talking to me. I was like, Oh, Peter, oh I I've never had I've never never had the opportunity to talk to you in the past. Yeah, yeah. And um look at us now. We were in your home. We talked about sitting down.

SPEAKER_00 55:02

No, but that video uh obviously it it's it's like now you can laugh, but I imagine your feeling of like you say horrifying.

SPEAKER_02 55:10

Oh, it was hard it was sad, it's like it's hard, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 55:14

I I can imagine that sensation of like, you know, putting all your money or like I don't know how you put your all your money, but yeah, no, it's hard. It's emotional. You know, thinking like oh I'm I'm building the best bar because this is your idea and then this.

SPEAKER_02 55:31

It doesn't have to be the best bar, but I I I would like people to consider it the bar they're the happiest at. That's enough for me.

SPEAKER_03 55:38

Yeah, and and and I feel like people I mean, in my own uh opinion, I didn't know. So I was like, and I drove through actually like a week ago. I drove through and I saw the sign because you didn't have a sign. No. So I saw the sign and I was gonna stop, but it's on um, I was driving. I don't know what I was going to, honestly, because it's like this is oh that's when I was going actually. I know what I was going to. I was going to to a pharmacy in the mid-road midtown. Uh-huh. So I was driving and I know I make a laugh and I was like, oh, this is this is drink 33. And that's where they connected, I'll be and drink 33. Yeah, yeah. Uh but now I know what it is, so there's no way we're gonna be simply gonna go. Like you guys are gonna go. We'll just go.

SPEAKER_02 56:21

Um no, yeah, so so I I actually I got that sign through my my homegirl, uh, two good friends of mine. They just um they just opened up their own bar actually as well. Uh 40 Clinton, I believe. Oh I'm so sorry if I fucked that address up. It's called Little Big. Okay. Um yeah, Yassiri and uh Tim, they opened up this great bar.

SPEAKER_03 56:45

In the Lower East Side or in Lower East Side, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:49

It's um it's uh um really great little space in the front and then this beautiful backyard in the back. Um like Caribbean and uh Eastern European cuisine. Um both alumni from Double Chicken Please.

SPEAKER_01 57:08

Oh yeah, I know you've heard about it actually.

SPEAKER_02 57:10

Yeah, yeah, it's a really really cool space. Uh so they they got a sign, a new sign, and they give us their old sign. Uh and so I'm I'm still using their old sign for now. You know, the more you know, I'm actually I'm I'm I'm going to spray paint my balcony probably tomorrow. Hopefully by the time this airs, uh you'll be able to see. I'm gonna try to stencil the name of the bar and advertise that we do tattoos and cocktails. Yeah. You know, to make it a little bit more understanding. Because I've also realized that, you know, when we have a sign that says drink open 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. That doesn't make any sense because they don't know that the place is called drink. So they're just like a drink? A drink is open? Like, okay, like it's it's it's a great name, and I know in a few years I'm gonna laugh about it, but it it does cause a lot of confusion in a lot of ways. Um but you know what? If if it didn't, it wouldn't be us.

SPEAKER_03 58:13

No, it makes you know, like it makes you and that's the that's uh the concept. Yeah, that's what we want. And and I think you have to stay true to what you want, your vision.

SPEAKER_01 58:21

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 58:22

Because that's you know what gets is gonna get you there. Um I was I mean, I was gonna just say, you know, you're gonna do something and probably you know help or have an event, and we can probably go and check it out. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe we can interview some people there. Yeah, that'd be great. And then we you know, see if uh they see themselves in the video sometime. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like that's how we help each other in the community. I feel like, you know, this is this goes goes full cycle. Uh I always see this, and I've always said this, um, when you help a friend, the friend helps a friend. And it's like it's fun help. You have to help someone else. And then I think that's a good way to go. Like going back to like partners, like teaching other guys or new, yeah, yeah, new upcoming bartenders. Because if you share that knowledge, if you share your time, your space, I think it's gonna help everyone. It doesn't help one person, you know.

SPEAKER_02 59:12

Yeah, no, so that's to be like for sure.

SPEAKER_03 59:14

And and I don't know, that's how I've seen it. That's what I was that's how I was raised. Yeah, and then they say you have a banana, split it into three. How do you split it? Right? I leave you guys with that question and you just give me the answer. People don't know how to split a banana in three.

SPEAKER_00 59:35

Well, you know, coming back to your bar and now that you're uh a partner and you also part of the uh bartending uh decisions, how many people are working with you?

SPEAKER_02 59:48

Uh so on my bar team right now I've got uh one, two, three, four. There's four of us.

SPEAKER_01 59:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 59:59

Yeah, there's four of us. Um yeah, it's uh it's interesting because you know you have to be different with each person and each personality's different, you know, and you you have to let them do things on their own, but you you know, you have to monitor, you know, as well a little bit. Um you know, there's like training someone is two weeks, right? You go to any normal place, they train you one week, or you shadow one week, you train w one week, you know, there's your two weeks. But like, you know, when you're also trying to teach people things, you know, um that's ongoing. You know, that's not training, you know, that mentorship or whatever. Um you know, that doesn't stop after one week, two weeks, you know, that keeps going, hopefully, until they outgrow you or your space and they do something better.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:53

How how do you feel like bringing in uh people with a little bit of experience or people with a lot of experience?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

Um I learned something a while ago that that I kind of use as my litmus test. Do I want to hang out with you? Like, do I want to spend time with you? Because I'm gonna spend more time with you than anyone else. That's true. Right? So like if I want to hang out with you, we'll figure it out. We'll figure out what we need to do to get you to where you need to be for it to be the right, you know, steps of service and you know. Um, I think that it's always harder when you have someone with more experience uh because they'll have habits that are they can be misconstrued or considered as bad habits. Because it's not about like you're doing the thing right or you're doing the thing wrong. It's about this is how you do it here. You know, I mean every place is different. So it doesn't matter how you did it, whether it was, you know, um uh a chain restaurant or a dive bar or a Michelin star restaurant or uh a top fifty, you know, bar, like each place it's gonna have its own steps of service and things that you have to sort of follow and and maintain, you know. Um and it's about realizing that those things need to be learned. Yeah. That's it. Like you need to learn it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:32

Um and when you have a lot of experience, it's it might be harder for you to learn. It also might be harder for you to learn if you're new. You know, again, every person is different. Uh treat every person with respect, with dignity, and be humble and be grateful, you know, because at the end of the day, like, man, bartenders work their ass off.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:56

You know, yeah, depending on where you work, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:58

It doesn't matter where you work. Yeah, because it's we work hard. We work really hard.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:02

I thought you just take things.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:03

Yeah. No. That's that's what I tell my friend Lucas. I tell him this is all he does, because he he's at Blight Tiger, they just have beers. He just does this, pours pour the beer. You know? Um no, but it's you know, it's you could have something going on in your life, you know, and you have to leave that shit at the door. And you have to Or talk about you, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:23

I haven't I I have a bad day, you know. I'm sorry if I, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:28

Communication, I think is Well, but uh the guest doesn't give a shit.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:31

Oh yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

You know what I mean? That's that's what I'm sort of referring to, you know. Like the guest, you gotta leave that shit at the door. You know, you you like you you You're here to be a part of something larger than yourself, right? Hospitality is just about being hospitable.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:50

You know, you don't you don't have to be the best drink maker. You don't. You don't have to be the most creative, you don't have to be the most knowledgeable. You have to be the kindest, the most sincere, you know. And friendly. That's it. The kindest and most sincere. You know, you you could make the worst drink on the planet, but if you're kind to your guest, another one, you know. Yeah, they'll get they'll get a couple more, you know what I mean? Yeah. But you could have the best drink that they've ever had, and you're an asshole. They're not coming back and they're remembering you as an asshole. Yeah. And they're remembering the space too.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:23

Yeah, not about much of uh the bartender, but they all will remember the space. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:27

I had this very bad experience uh a couple of weeks ago that um my friend uh asked for a uh a drink that has it looked like a margarita or something. But she loves uh tahin. But like she is always like, put extra, right? Um but then it was a busy night. Um then uh we didn't see that it has like anything on the menu, like saying a rim or whatever. So we didn't know that it comes with like a sole rim. So I told the the the bartender, I said, Oh, I'm sorry. Um, is there any way that we can uh add uh tahine to the rim? And he was super rude. He says, like, so what do you want me to do? You want me to do another drink? But like this attitude also, and I was like, Are you a bartender? And he's like, Yeah. And I said, Well, just change the the freaking glass. Like, that's it, right? Uh just in a new ring. What what what's the problem with that, right? And uh and he was like, you know, because I feel like, you know, working in hospitality, you having a bar, even if it's a dive bar, doesn't mean you have to be ruined.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:33

I've no, I I actually I I tend to see that some of the best service you get is in like a dive bar.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:41

I you know, I I love this place. Um it was in Berlin Jackson. I didn't I I can't remember the name of the place. Oh my god, I can't remember right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:49

I don't think you love it. You don't even remember the name?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:51

No, I used to go there because I used to uh run about program uh in a place called Bellweather. Oh, you were at Badweather, yeah? Yeah, yeah, that's cool. A long time ago. When they first opened.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:01

So I remember having a uh like a beer and a shot, and the guy was there all the time. His name was Chris too. So I was like, you know, we just walk in, he was like, he knew who we are, who we were. He'll like line them up, like he'll line the shots, and he'd ready to we're gonna get a beer. Like beer and a shot. That's what we normally drink. I don't want to like, you know, thut of cocktail. Like I'm done. I just want to take a sprayer and a shot and go my way, you know. For sure. Um that happens sometimes, you know, that used to happen. But we like he knew who we were, you know, like that connection, like the hospitality comes again. Yeah, for sure. You know, like you know that guy, you know, these guys, even if we're like part of like this the service industry, like there's a small connection. The same thing with Mother's Ruin. Yeah, talking about the.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:44

I was just there, I had their chicken sandwich. I've never had it before. The chicken sandwich and the burger, that's what I used to do. Oh, the chicken sandwich is so good.

unknown 1:06:51

Oh I know.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:52

I used to go there. I was at their Austin location. Their Austin location is cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:56

Yeah, yeah. This is cool this year, last year, I think. Last year. Last year, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:00

I used to go there also for the same thing. And then walking in, Dakarist. Like, they know. Like, you know. Yeah. If you work in the industry, like they kinda like the Dakar is kind of like the thing that you give to the people, you know. Unless you have something like a clarified thing, but it's just always something that you should give to your people. I mean, that you should navigate better. We call in the moose boosh. The moosebush, that's it.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:23

Yeah, moosebush. So now you know what that means? Yeah. To amuse the mouth. To amuse your mouth, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:32

Um to entertain your mouth.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:34

Yes. It's not that particular.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:37

Yeah. So now that you have your own bar, do you ever think about like having I mean, obviously you said that Ricardo knew that you want to open a bar in your lens, but when did you Well he didn't know I he knew I wanted to.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:50

It's not like I was I was nowhere near the steps of doing that. Let's that it was a it was a it was a really, really, really beautiful, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed dream.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:01

But it was out there in the universe anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:03

So you know, like Yeah, I mean, listen, you think about these things for sure. I mean, like you I can't do what I'm doing forever. At a certain point, I have to think about my future. Yeah. You know.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:14

So how do you feel now as an owner?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:17

You know, I'm stressed. It's a different level of things. I'm gressed. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. That's it. I'm I'm grateful, I'm thrilled. Um you know, I look forward to the future. I think it's gonna be cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:32

I think that's that's that's the the passion and and the and the the vision, you know. Looking ahead. That's what I always tell Nuri, you know, like when you start something, you don't start and change things overnight, you know, like things don't just appear. You don't I mean, even as a kid, you just don't you know you're not born and run then two miles, right? Yeah, yeah. So basically like and this is the one thing I think I think now going back to the social media point. W now we want everything fast and and now and want it to happen. But you know, when things take things they take time, you build up the consistency and your clientele. And going back to the neighborhood, I mean, the neighborhood is gonna start seeing or seeing that you guys are there. Um and I feel like it just takes one person to go in there, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:19

It always takes one person.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:20

The next person is gonna bring another one and then another one and another one. And um I feel like that's just what it is. I mean, we can start by drinking some like one of the martinis very soon.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:32

Yeah, we're gonna go there and have some. But you know, thank you so much. Yes, of course. Thank you guys so much. I love the idea of like you being a bar back, you know, dealing with this.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:44

Uh I'm still uh in my Instagram it says lead bar back forever clocked in. That's what it says. My uh my Instagram is at Peter Gasm. Uh we're gonna put it in. It's like an orgasm, but I'm included. And then uh exactly. And uh and then the uh the bar's Instagram is at drink33NYC. So follow, follow the bar, follow Peter.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:15

Um we're gonna put it also on uh around here. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:19

Yeah, around right somewhere around here. Somewhere right here. Somewhere right here, maybe over here. I mean, I don't think I've looked at that camera the entire time. It's a big one. I just take a look at every camera.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:31

You get every angle. If you guys have any drinks at the bar, let us know in the comments which which one do you guys have.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:36

Uh so we can go and drink it. That uh how do you like it? Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Of course. I know it's it's uh uh busy day for you, and uh, we love your your uh story.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:52

I'm I'm grateful to be here. So thank you guys.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:54

I'm very proud to you know show another uh New Yorker that is like passionate about hospitality, it's uh passionate about your drinks, and also your uh helping another bartender to know about you and your uh you know your work and training people. That's amazing. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:13

Thank you. Uh I don't want to leave by saying without saying uh if you guys like this episode, uh let us know. Also, if you guys want to see more episodes like this, go to our website, uh W bar talking talking bar AYC.com. Uh we have or any favorite platforms? I mean, I prefer one than another sometimes if I'm right uh if I'm running.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:36

Uh but yeah, whatever you're in all the platforms.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:39

www.bar talking talking bar.com. Let's fucking go, baby. That's right. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:46

Uh see you next week. And um thank you. Let's go.