Art Beyond the Glass: Bartenders Show Off Their Creative Sides

Dave Fernie and Steve Livigni Were Responsible for Getting the Party Started at Art Beyond the Glass

I’ve recently become fascinated by bartenders. I have the utmost respect for chefs doing traditional and creative cooking, but they are not always the best interviews. Loooong hours in a fast-paced but largely behind-the-scenes profession attracts a certain kind of personality – not one always suitable for civilized company.

Bartenders, on the other hand, are always ready with a story and are professional chit-chatters. A great bartender can effectively read a customer’s needs and make them feel at ease, hoping to cultivate a regular. Another reason bartenders fascinate me: children rarely say they want to grow up to be a bartender. It is not unusual to hear chefs say that they can’t imagine working anywhere besides a kitchen. Bartenders, however, are by-and-large a creative bunch who fell into the profession and are always looking for new creative outlets.

Lindsay Nader of Pour Vous presents her creation: Awesome Possum. Made with Auchentoshan Classic, strawberry soda, vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries, I felt lucky to be the first to try one of the event's most buzzed about drinks.

Lindsay's reaction after trying her new drink for the first time. As my friend @Vxronica said, "She's so pretty that it should be illegal."

On June 17, bartenders from the best bars in LA were given the opportunity to showcase their creative extra-curricular activities as well as show off their drink-slinging. The beautiful patio of Sadie in Hollywood was taken over by drunken degenerates (bartenders and cocktail geeks) for one magical afternoon of day-drinking and dancing. Below are some scenes from the overwhelmingly successful event:

Me and Art Beyond the Glass Co-Founder Daniel Djang (Thirsty in LA) enjoying Lindsay Nader's cocktail

Mia Mastroianni of SoHo House Getting Pumped for Day Drinking

See 150 more pictures I took here

Jaymee Mandeville of Drago Centro & Cari Hah of Neat Bar serve up their twisted Sangrita, another one of the most talked about drinks of the day

Read more about Jaymee and Cari’s Lil Twisted Sangrita Tour

Pablo Moix of Pour Vous, Harvard and Stone, La Descarga live paints a mural

Auction piece by China Morbosa of Eveleigh

Julian Cox (Sotto, Picca, Short Order, Playa, Rivera) and Dave Whitton size each other up. Do I spy one of Julian's rare bottles of Del el MagueyMezcal?

Josh Lucas (The Writer’s Room and The Magic Castle) is quite the showman. All eyes were on him for his magic show.

Magic show by Josh Lucas (The Writer’s Room and The Magic Castle) was quite the entertaining crowd-pleaser. Ron Dollete can't believe his eyes!

Funny story: Jen Len (Drago Centro) and Zahra Bates (pictured, Providence) were putting raffle tickets in a metal bucket. The sun burned a hole through some of the tickets!

Esther Tseng (E*starLA) sharing a devilish laugh with Caroline on Crack

Auction piece by China Morbosa of Eveleigh

Ricky Yarnall of Bar|Kitchen with Nick Zacharzuk and Molly

Dave Fernie of Pour Vous in beast mode, dropping beats that Julian Cox (Picca, Sotta, Short Order, Rivera, Playa) is picking up

Mia Mastroianni of SoHo House Shows Off Her Sailor Jerry Rum Curls

Brent Falco of Cole's and I had a nice chat about her beautiful Japanese mixing glass

Mia Sarazan of Areal brings the intensity

While it was great fun seeing so many familiar & lovely faces, it was also a great opportunity to make new friends. The problem when you mix dancing & alcohol, sometimes you have so much fun that you forget to trade contact info. If anyone knows the above dancers, please tell them to contact me – I need to learn some new moves!

Art Beyond the Glass co-founders Daniel Djang (Thirsty in LA) and Zahra Bates (Providence) check last minute details before the amazing event

A big thank you must go out to the event’s creators Daniel Djang and Zahra Bates. It was a ton of fun, plus it raised a lot of money for  Inner-City Arts. More thanks must be given to the following companies for donating spirits: Infinium Spirits, Karlsson’s Vodka, Sailor Jerry Rum, Campari America, Becherovka, Akvinta Vodka, Atlantico Rum, St. George Spirits, Del Maguey Mezcal, 123 Tequila, Henry Wine Group and Pierre Ferrand.

Read more recaps of the event at Thirsty in LA. If the event ever goes on tour, you better believe I’ll do whatever I can to help a Boston version  be as big of a success. I’d like to close with an excerpt from an open letter Zahra Bates posted on Thirsty in LA:

“We love this life, this world and the possibility of expression that it allows. We love what we put in the glass and give to our guests, but more than that we love the person that sits before us. To be clear, I am in love with what we do together, I am in love with how we do it, and I am in love with the unintended outcome of what we do.

Yes, this is a love letter to my city, to the people I work with and my community at large. I have never experienced such joy, such beauty or such love all in one day, all in one room and all for one thing. Art; in and beyond the glass is the celebration of…well, of everything.”

Beauty. Community. Love. – three words to sum up my favorite cocktail event of the year!