Overview

"A Kitchen Confidential for the cocktail profession, Unvarnished is a fly-on-the-wall narrative peek at the joys, pains, and peculiarities of life ""behind the stick."" When it opened a decade ago, the acclaimed Los Angeles speakeasy The Varnish--owned, designed, and managed by award-winning cocktail aficionado Eric Alperin--quickly became the stylish standard bearer for modern bars. Unvarnished is a candid, voice-driven, no-holds-barred look at the workings of a bar, and the foundation of The Varnish's success: attention to hospitality and an abiding belief in the nobility of service. Alperin and veteran bartender and writer Deborah Stoll push back against the prevailing conceit that working in the service industry is something people do because they failed at another career. They offer fascinating meditations on ice as the bartender's flame; the good, the bad, and the sad parts of vice; one's duty to their community as a local; the obsessive, compulsive deliberations of building a bar (size matters); lessons from Sasha Petraske--Eric's late partner, mentor, and the forefather of the modern day classic cocktail renaissance--and the top ten reasons not to date a bartender. At the book's center are the 100 recipes a young Jedi bartender must know before their first shift at The Varnish, along with examples of building drinks by the round, how to Mr. Potato Head cocktails, and what questions to ask when crafting a Bartender's Choice. A sexy, gritty, honest look at the glamour-less work of a glamorous job, written with the intimate honesty of The Tender Bar, the debauched inside view of Kitchen Confidential, and the social commentary of Waiter Rant, Unvarnished will take its place among these classics of the service set. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook."

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9781094162171

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Eric Alperin's first experience behind the stick was at the Screening Room in NYC. He has worked at Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's Michelin-starred Lupa, and Sasha Petraske's Milk & Honey and Little Branch. In Los Angeles, Eric created and managed Osteria Mozza's liquor and cocktail program before opening the Varnish in 2009. the Varnish received a James Beard nomination for Outstanding Bar Program from 2013 to 2016 and won Best American Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail in 2012. Eric has been a finalist for Best American Bartender. Eric's bar Half Step in Austin, Texas, was nominated for a Spirited Award for Best New American Cocktail Bar. He recently opened the Streamliner at Union Station, in downtown LA. Deborah Stoll is a journalist, lyricist, short-story writer, animator, and screenwriter. Her essays and articles have appeared in the LA Times, The Economist, LA Weekly, SF Chronicle, Punch Drink, IAM&CO, Ignite and Weedmaps. Her short stories can be found in the seminal issue of Slake, in the literary magazine Swivel, and on Hillary Carlip's Fresh Yarn.

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