Bartenders

Justin Pike, the talented bartender at the Tasting Kitchen in Venice, draws detailed pictures of the artisanal ingredients and specialty liqueurs he uses in his cocktails on the restaurant's large chalkboards. Pike, who studied illustration at Massachusetts College of Art, initially started bartending to buy time to draw before emerging as a star of the city's impressive craft cocktail scene. Similar stories exist all over Los Angeles, where bartending is a lucrative way to float other artistic dreams.

Some of Las Vegas ' best bartenders will show off their skills during a five-event contest that begins Wednesday at Insert Coins , a popular downtown venue that combines night life with classic and contemporary video games. Contestants will demonstrate their mixology skills and their flashy styles during the Industry All-Stars Bartender Competition Series . Each month through July, bartenders will go head to head for cash and prizes and opportunities to advance to the next round.

Armed with a cocktail shaker and a dream, Marcos Tello is on a mission to elevate the profession of bartending. A mixologist's mixologist, he has helped bring together a community of Southern California bartenders and cocktail aficionados in a club called the Sporting Life, a monthly gathering that started last year with only eight people and has grown to more than 100, among them some of the region's top barkeeps and most devout imbibers. It's a testament to L.A.'

AUSTIN, Texas -- The long-standing reputation of  South by Southwest as something of a party festival may be part of its appeal to visiting media and guests.  The hubs around the Convention Center and the Paramount Theater mean festivalgoers spend an awful lot of time crossing paths with the long stretch of large bars on s 6 th Street. As director Ti West, in town to support acting roles in two festival films, recently posted to Twitter, “It's spring break for filmmakers.” Saturday night was especially hopping, with multiple parties all over town.

He served martinis to Orson Welles. He made pecan punch -- a potent combination of brandy, grenadine and pecan liqueur -- for Bing Crosby. And, on occasion, he would drive Charles Bukowski home when he was drunk. Ruben Rueda, 59, may be the longest continually serving bartender in Hollywood. "I started at Musso's in 1967," he said. "I started as a busboy. I did that for about a year. Then one of the guys got sick and I became a bartender. They call me 'the traffic light' because I changed from a green jacket to a red jacket."

Some of Las Vegas ' best bartenders will show off their skills during a five-event contest that begins Wednesday at Insert Coins , a popular downtown venue that combines night life with classic and contemporary video games. Contestants will demonstrate their mixology skills and their flashy styles during the Industry All-Stars Bartender Competition Series . Each month through July, bartenders will go head to head for cash and prizes and opportunities to advance to the next round.

The minute one of her regulars comes through the canteen door at VFW Post 1503, Dori Keys starts to pour. Captain Morgan and Diet Coke for Rich. Old Crow on the rocks for Sam. Bruce likes Miller Lite. The men she serves have one thing in common: They are American combat veterans. After seven years of listening from behind the bar, she knows a lot more about some of them than what they drink. Men like Bruce Yeager, 62, who came in one day complaining about a sore on his foot that wouldn't heal.

In an Anaheim restaurant crowded with some of the most hoity-toity bartender-critics in the land, a newly famous drink-maker paused to ponder a most weighty question. Why a bartender? Why devote a life to mixing drinks? Lee Williams, 47, shook his drink shaker and surveyed the room for so long it seemed as if he were thinking back to every cocktail he had ever mixed, to every tongue-wagger who ever pulled up a stool to bend his ear.

As the hushed crowd watched, Jeanne Church was poring over the glass in front of her. A few steps away, Ayoe Nielsen was pouring into hers. Church, a retired university administrator from Rancho Palos Verdes, was carefully sipping drink after drink Monday in Cerritos as she helped judge the 45th annual United States Bartenders Guild Cocktail Competition.

It took Fred Ireton more than a dozen years to give up drinking, but when he did, he became one of the best bartenders in the world. For Ireton, the 63-year-old president of the United States Bartenders' Guild, the road to alcoholism began with a public relations career. He came to the profession with the gift of gab and a fun-loving personality. He spent the next 11 years drinking his way into unemployment. Then he discovered his true calling: being a sober bartender.

Mixology king Aidan Demarest's Glendale hideaway, Neat , turns 1 this Sunday. To celebrate the milestone, Demarest is throwing a birthday bash that day featuring a backyard BBQ, lots of Sailor Jerry barrel-aged cocktails and a stellar lineup of guest bartenders including John Lermayer, Erick Castro, Mia Sarazen, Rich Andreoli and Arash Pakzad. "I've got so many bartenders working that night that there won't be room for customers," jokes Demarest, adding that another superstar bartender is on the roster who he can't announce yet. When Demarest opened Neat, his business plan flew in the face of the city's thriving mixology scene.

Justin Pike, the talented bartender at the Tasting Kitchen in Venice, draws detailed pictures of the artisanal ingredients and specialty liqueurs he uses in his cocktails on the restaurant's large chalkboards. Pike, who studied illustration at Massachusetts College of Art, initially started bartending to buy time to draw before emerging as a star of the city's impressive craft cocktail scene. Similar stories exist all over Los Angeles, where bartending is a lucrative way to float other artistic dreams.

It didn't take long for the Los Angeles Kings to take the Stanley Cup to their favorite bar. Just hours after the team claimed its first-ever championship with a 6-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night, the celebration was on at the North End Bar & Grill in Hermosa Beach. Owner John Courts said the entire team, the players' families and some Kings employees gathered for a private celebration - and brought their trophy with them. "The Stanley Cup was on the bar," Courts said.

The cold fried chicken sandwich at Michael Voltaggio's ink.sack is one of the restaurant's bestsellers. The meat is cooked sous-vide with piment d'espelette and then breaded in corn flakes and fried. It's topped with crisp lettuce, pickles and tangy housemade ranch cheese and drizzled with a small-batch year-old hot sauce called Gindo's Spice of Life. Made by a local bartender and home chef named Chris Ginder, Gindo's Spice of Life has been generating buzz among local chefs who favor its fierce but forgiving heat and rich, well-balanced flavor.

Cranberry is not vodka's best friend. Real vodka drinkers know this, but for years their taste has been marginalized by a craft cocktail scene obsessed with whiskey. Change is on the horizon, however. As Los Angeles bartenders vie to keep up with the next trending drink wave, venues all over town are favoring clear spirits. Well-regarded mixologists including Aidan Demarest and Marcos Tello of the cocktail consulting firm Tello/Demarest Liquid Assets are leading the way, serving as brand ambassadors to Stoli Elit vodka and Bols Genever (a grain-based, gin-like spirit)

Giovanni Martinez's daiquiri recipe Total time: 8 minutes Servings: 1 Note: "It sounds terribly boring, but there's nothing like a good daiquiri," says Martinez, the head bartender at Fig & Olive in West Hollywood. His only change from the classic formula is to use slightly sweeter Key lime juice. 2 ounces light rum 3/4 ounces Key lime juice 1 tablespoon sugar In a cocktail shaker, combine the rum, Key lime juice and sugar. Add ice and shake vigorously, so that it's aerated.

In an Anaheim restaurant crowded with some of the most hoity-toity bartender critics in the land, a newly famous drink maker paused to ponder a most weighty question. Why a bartender? Why devote a life to mixing drinks? Lee Williams, 47, shook his drink shaker and surveyed the room for so long it seemed as if he were thinking back to every cocktail he'd ever mixed, to every tongue-wagger who ever pulled up a stool to bend his ear.

For bartender Gil Pereides, the highly social job of serving up spirits often reminds him of being invited to a wild, blue-collar bacchanal of drink and song--but he's the only one who's sober.

The minute one of her regulars comes through the canteen door at VFW Post 1503, Dori Keys starts to pour. Captain Morgan and Diet Coke for Rich. Old Crow on the rocks for Sam. Bruce likes Miller Lite. The men she serves have one thing in common: They are American combat veterans. After seven years of listening from behind the bar, she knows a lot more about some of them than what they drink. Men like Bruce Yeager, 62, who came in one day complaining about a sore on his foot that wouldn't heal.

The soul of the electric-green apple martini has been shaken, not stirred. The same holds true for traditional gender roles in the city's bars. The craft cocktail movement of the last four years has been something of a breakthrough. Before the current craze for reimagining classic drinks using house-made ingredients, women were a common sight working in lounges but often in a different capacity, says cocktail consultant Aidan Demarest. "Women were prevalent up and down Sunset [Boulevard]