You're 86

How do you handle awkward guests? Usually our interactions with guests at our bars are fun and positive. After all, our job is to provide people with alcohol in a jovial environment, what could be better? But sometimes things don't go as planned. Guests can be socially awkward, weird or just downright rude and we still have to provide them with good service. That can be challenging at best.

My guest today is Simone Mims, and she's spent the last 22 years behind the bar and had no shortage of awkward interactions with guests. Simone has worked at some incredible bars in both New York and San Francisco, including Blackbird, Nico Restaurant and Che Fico, and she had some amazing advice about not taking anything personally and providing even the weirdest and rudest guests with the best service possible.

You can follow Simone on Instagram to find out what she's up to, and she is also a bar and beverage consultant, I've definitely tried some of her cocktails and they're amazing. Check out our conversation about how to handle awkward guests in the player below and don't forget to hit subscribe and share us with your friend's and colleagues. We have new episodes every week about some of the biggest challenges in our industry. We'll see you next time!

It's not a good idea to keep glasses of wine next to your laptop and recording equipment.

Hello again! Another month, some more easy tips for you and another bottle of inexpensive Spanish wine from my corner store. I don't know why I started this tradition, but I'm into it. It's working for me.

Anyway, we had a lot of important discussions this month about issues that we face almost daily at our bars. I talked to Celia Camacho about what to do when guests hit on you, Enoch Tonatiuh about the challenges of working at new bars, Mark Goodwin from The Pin Project about our complex relationship with alcohol, and I shared some of my own experiences dealing with annoying customers at my bar. As usual, I wanted to hit some of the main points with this recap episode, so you can have a few new tools to help you at your bar or restaurant.

Check out this episode for more easy tips in the player below or wherever podcasts are found, and please hit subscribe in the player of your choice to stay up to date with our weekly conversations with bartenders about all kinds of different challenges. Subscribe to our mailing list too, I send a newsletter out about once a month, with even more great stuff. Cheers!

Bartenders have a complicated relationship with booze, to say the least. We sell it, we love it, we hate it, we know more about it, the way it's produced, its history and it's effects than most other people, and we are constantly surrounded by it. Sometimes this relationship can become extremely difficult, particularly when we get caught up in this routine of being the life of the party, that is quite literally our job.

It's hard to put things in perspective and it's hard to find personal balance in an industry that is so completely saturated with alcohol. It can be a massive challenge to discover our own connection to booze and what it really means, and sometimes that requires taking a step back and not drinking for a while. A task that I know from personal experience is easier said than done.

My guest today is Mark Goodwin, he's been in this industry since 2014. He began his career at Trick Dog here in San Francisco and he now works behind the bar at Coin Op. Mark really came to terms with his own relationship to alcohol almost 11 months ago, and made the decision to stop drinking. During this time of sobriety he's created The Pin Project, which directly addresses the challenges of alcohol consumption bartenders face in this industry.

The Pin is a small symbol you can wear on your lapel during your shift behind the bar, that lets your coworkers and customers know that you have made the choice to not drink during that shift. The pin allows you to make that choice without facing scrutiny or awkward conversations about why you're not drinking. There are plenty of reasons to not drink, everything from addiction problems to having to pick someone up from the airport later, and the pin helps you make that choice silently and easily.

 

The pin will be available very soon for $15, so you can get one for yourself or your team. Make sure to check out their website and sign up for updates. All proceeds from the pin support The Pin Foundation, a community driven charity focused on improving wellness, health and understanding in regards to sobriety in the working life. The Pin Foundation’s main focus is to connect mental health and substance abuse counselors with those in need, as well as financially sponsoring treatment.

Check out my conversation with Mark in the player above or wherever podcasts are found. Don't forget to hit subscribe and please share us and The Pin Project with your friends and colleagues in the industry. We'll see you next week with more conversations about the biggest challenges in our industry. Cheers!

Completely happy with this $12 bottle of corner store Rioja.

Hey everyone! Unfortunately I don't have a guest this week, you know how it goes working at a bar, things happen, people have emergencies. I didn't want to leave you hanging though, so I thought I would buy another cheap bottle of wine from my corner store, tell you a little bit more about myself and talk about dealing with annoying customers.

Now, by no means am I an expert at this, but it's something I experience and think about a lot and I wanted to share what's worked for me. It's one of the most frustrating things we deal with on a daily basis and it can burn us out very quickly. But if we start to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers, find the humor in it all and focus on why everyone is there in our bars and restaurants, we can all start to have an easier time.

Check out this episode in the player below or in your favorite podcast player. Also, I'd love to hear from you! Send me a message through the contact form or leave a comment below. I'd love to know what you think of the show, what you'd like to hear more of, or even just who you are and where you're from. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time.

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about all of the challenges of opening a new bar. But after the doors are open, what is it like working at brand new bars? It can be the old adage, out of the frying pan into the fire. Everything is new. The staff is new, no one knows where anything is yet, no one has the muscle memory to be perfectly efficient yet, problems you could never have anticipated arise, you have to change things every day. It can be extremely stressful, but also incredibly rewarding if you really believe in the program and love what you're doing.

My guest today is Enoch Tonatiuh. Originally from Oaxaca, he's worked in the industry since he was 15 years old and over the past four years he's been on the opening team of four new bars and restaurants in San Francisco. Enoch is currently at the brand new Angler restaurant, and he also helped open Whitechapel, Charmaine's and The Beehive. Although he didn't set out to just be a bartender at new bars, Enoch has found that he loves the challenge and excitement, and he has grown and learned so much over the past few years.

Check out our conversation in the player below or wherever podcasts are found. We have new conversations every week, so don't forget to hit subscribe if you haven't already. And share us with your friends and colleagues in the industry, this is great information for everyone. We'll see you next time!

What do you do when customers hit on you? It's a common occurrence for bartenders, particularly female bartenders, and in the context of service and hospitality it can be a very tricky situation. It is often the kind of attention that is unwanted and inappropriate, but it is also very nuanced and complex. There is a lot of emotion involved, ideas about consent, thoughtfulness and understanding. It's an opportunity to teach someone what is right or wrong, and it's also a situation that could potentially end very badly.

My guest today is Celia Camacho. She has worked in the industry since 2010 at some incredible bars including Blind Tiger and Trick Dog, and she has had a lot of experience dealing with being hit on at work. Celia had many bad experiences to share, but also a many situations that ended up being positive. She also had great advice about how to take care of yourself when these things happen.

Check out our conversation in the player below or wherever podcasts are found. Make sure to hit subscribe and share us with your friends in the industry. We have new conversations every week about some of the most challenging situations behind the bar. Cheers!

My neighborhood corner store has some surprising wine selections. Including this Rhone blend.

Hey guys! It's been a busy month as per usual. Lots of amazing guests and a ton of great information. I wanted to give you some more quick and easy tips to remember. We spoke with Tanya Clark, founder of Jigger and Dash Wellness about how to lead a healthier life in the industry, Suzu about how to stay fresh and creative in your career, Todd Carnam, beverage director at The Interval about empathy in customer service, and Simi Grewal, co-founder of DECANT SF, about how she started her own business. I wanted to do another quick recap episode for you all, it's hard to remember everything and repetition is your best friend when you're trying to learn.

I'd love to hear from you all about what you think of the show or what you would like to hear more of. You can leave a comment below or shoot me a message on the contact page. You can listen to this episode in the player below or wherever podcasts are found. Be sure to hit subscribe and share us with your friends in the industry.

We've got some exciting stuff coming up, including: A conversation about how to have a career as a bartender when you have a family, what to do when guys hit on you while you're working, all the challenges of working at a brand new bar, and more!  Be sure to also check out our homepage for even more great tips to remember. We'll see you next time!

So you want to open your own bar? Many of us, myself included, have this dream, but the idea can seem daunting, even impossible. Where do you begin? How do you fund a project like that? How will your life change when you run your own place? Is it even right for you? Starting your own business is one of the most challenging things you can do, but it can also be one of the most rewarding.

My guest today is Simi Grewal. She has worked in just about every capacity in this industry, everything from line cook to sommelier at award winning restaurants, and that experience helped her open her own bar. Earlier this month, Simi and her business partner Cara Patricia, an equally accomplished industry veteran, opened the doors to DECANT, a beautiful new wine bar and retail shop in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco.

Check out my conversation with Simi about the joys and struggles she faced along her journey to opening her own business in the player below or wherever podcasts are found, and don't forget to hit subscribe and share us with your friends and colleagues in the industry.

Be sure to visit our homepage for much, much more. Thanks so much for tuning in. We have brand new episodes every week. I'll see you next time.

Customers are people too, just like you and I, though often it's hard to remember that fact. Our job, by necessity, separates us from the people we serve. This separation tends to invoke an 'us versus them' attitude, which is especially reinforced  when we are super busy. It is extremely difficult to see customers as unique individuals with different needs and emotions when 30 of them all show up at the same time and expect service, but we still have to make it happen.

My guest today is Todd Carnam. Todd is the beverage director at The Interval in San Francisco, where we recorded this interview. Him and I used to work together before he was in that role. Todd and I had a great conversation about empathy in the context of service, and how to use those ideas when you find yourself in challenging situations with guests.

Check out our conversation in the player below or wherever podcasts are found, and please hit subscribe in the player of your choice to stay up to date with our weekly conversations with bartenders about all kinds of different challenges. Read on after the break for more.

If you find yourself with a challenging customer, take a second to think about where they’re coming from, why they are there and why you're there. It may seem weird, but when we start thinking about the happiness of others instead of only focusing on our own happiness, it actually just makes everyone happy.

That’s all for this week! It was a pleasure talking with Todd and hearing all he had to say about guest interactions. Thank you so much for tuning in and checking us out!

Be sure to hop on our mailing list to stay up to date with everything happening here. You can also like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and share us with your friends and colleagues because that’s what You’re 86 all about: Sharing knowledge so we can all improve together as an industry. Stay tuned for next week’s episode.

Cheers!

It's easy to get burnt out in this industry. So much of what we do is mere drudgery. It's repetitive and it can wear us down after a long time. It is difficult to stay inspired and creative when you work behind the bar. One way to stay inspired however, although maybe not the easiest, is variety and movement. My guest today, Suzu, is an expert at career movement.

Suzu has worked in the industry since he was a child, helping out around his grandparent's family restaurant in Tokyo. Here in San Francisco, he's worked at more bars than I can count including some legendary cocktail bars like 15 Romolo, Tradition(now Zombie Village), Wildhawk, Bellota,  Benjamin Cooper and, more recently, Bon Voyage. Suzu has also dabbled in brand work, competitive bartending with USBG World Class and Bacardi Legacy and more. "I have to stay active, I need to be doing a million different things," Suzu said, "Even as a kid, I was interested in the arts, but I was also playing competitive soccer, I was in the Boy Scouts, I was doing this and that all the time, and I still feel that way, I guess."

By constantly moving around and staying fresh, Suzu stays inspired and creative in his career. He not only finds variety from bar to bar, but at bars like Benjamin Cooper, where we recorded this interview, the menu changes constantly and the inspiration is flowing as freely as the booze. Suzu was originally pursuing an education in visual art, but today he uses that same artistic creativity behind the bar, which also helps him stay inspired.

Check out my interview with Suzu in the player above or wherever podcasts are found, and hear what he had to say about his career and how he stays fresh. Be sure to hit subscribe in your favorite podcast player, we have new conversations every week. And please share us with your friends and colleagues in the industry. This is such great information for everyone.

I actually recorded this interview a few months ago and the show has changed a bit since then. I wanted to include it anyway though, as Suzu always has great advice. This is sort of a "lost episode" if you will, hence the shorter length and slightly different interview format. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.

Cheers,