There is no question that the world becomes more corporate as each year passes. This corporatization and its seemingly unrelenting momentum, has been the cause of much of the unrest in this country and in the world. There seems to be a disconnect between corporations and people at times, and...

Last week in the New York Times food section I found an article by Robert Willey entitled, "Here's to Your Summer Cocktails Made Simpler." It talked about how complicated cocktails have become as of late, and knowing that the readership of the Times might want to make some...

In the first part of this installment, I talked about the bar and suggested a patron's guide to civilized behavior. While there are many more examples that I can cite, I want to address the bartender's side of the engagement because in the interest of fairness, they have...

We often read or hear about the lack of civility in our lives and it seems that we have been at odds as a species about just what constitutes acceptable behavior. I'm not writing this to discuss whether life is less or more civil now, but rather to suggest that...

This past spring as the controversy over the Arizona law that allowed police to stop anyone and ask for proof of citizenship raged, my thoughts often went to the immigrants that I had come to know and work beside during my years of restaurant service. I thought of all of...

They say, best men are moulded (sic) out of faults,
And, for the most, become much more the better
For being a little bad

When you enter a restaurant or bar and you see the bartender using a jigger to...

The other night a gentleman came in, sat down and ordered a Sex On The Beach. I had to stop for a moment to recall the recipe, because I hadn't made it in a very long time. I faintly heard an old Flock of Seagulls song as I reached for...

Last week I visited the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina, and I must say if you haven't yet visited this picturesque and historic city, you should put it on your list of places to go. Located close to the Atlantic Ocean on a peninsula facing the Charleston Bay, it...

Recently, the New York Times ran an article about one of my favorite bartenders in New York, Doug Quinn of P.J. Clarke's. The Times has started a new feature that will run every Friday with Frank Bruni -- the former food critic-writing about bar culture. Well, I think...

In my humble opinion, one of the simplest and greatest cocktails is the Gimlet. It not only tastes good, it looks great sitting in a cocktail glass on the bar; For many years it was a very popular cocktail, and recently, it has made a comeback, albeit in a more...

Last week a young man in his twenties came in and sat down at the bar. I greeted him, and asked him what he wanted. He replied, "I'll have a perfect Makers Manhattan up." Well, I must admit I was surprised and yet tickled by his order. The old adage...

When I began to think of what I would write about to begin this entry, I thought about the number of years that I've been active in the restaurant/hotel business, and how much change that I've seen. I began as a barback...