Schimek, who was raised in a log cabin in Vermont, has an encyclopedic knowledge of fresh herbs and grows ingredients for her aromatic cocktails in her home garden. It's a skill she honed under the guidance of Manhattan cocktail maven Audrey Saunders at the Tar Pit (before Saunders departed), then at First & Hope, where she trained under Demarest and his partner, mixologist Marcos Tello, as part of the pair's cocktail consulting firm Tello Demarest Liquid Assets.
"Right now, I'm excited about planting for spring," says Schimek, who speaks with a gently lilting voice. "I'm planting sloe berries for the first time. I want to approximate a sloe gin liqueur."
Also on Schimek's agenda: foraging for wild fennel on Mt. Hollywood after a good rain to make something interesting with gin; hiking in Malibu "where there are no dogs," to gather dandelions to make "some dandelion wine like my grandmother used to make"; making jasmine sugar with fresh jasmine blooms; candying borage flowers ("the leaves have a nice cucumber flavor"); and teaching herself how to plate cocktails like "you would plate an entrée or dessert."
Other women shaking up the city's craft cocktail scene include Rachel Shaw, who once oversaw the beverage program at Malo; Nikki Sunseri, the hard-working talent behind the booze program at Little Dom's and Dominick's; Danielle Crouch at Caña Rum Bar and the Tar Pit; Brent Falco, who heads up the Red Car bar at Cole's; and the Varnish's Devon Tarby, who trained under Alperin after starting there at the door and working her way up. She's currently the only woman behind the bar at the Varnish.
Alperin says it's his intention to eventually train all his cocktail waitresses to be bartenders. The idea is that there is no job beneath any employee. Ideally, each member of the staff should know how to host, work the floor, barback and bartend. That's hospitality, he says.
This practice will inevitably lead to even more women behind the bar, which suits Alperin just fine.
"A feminine sensibility is important," he says. "There's a sensitivity that is different in women. Can I put my finger on it? No. But I like it."
jessica.gelt@latimes.com
