Bartenders

Gareth Evans

Type

Bartenders

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

Royal Leamington Spa to be specific, but I lived in Leeds for most of my adult life so I still get ‘Gaz from Leeds’ more than anything else.

WHERE DO YOU/HAVE YOU WORKED?

Pollen Street Social, London

FAVORITE BARS?

HK28 and Cufflink Club in Singapore, Oporto in Leeds, Socio Rehab in Manchester. In London -  The Connaught, Nightjar when I’m in the mood, Callooh Callay, Happiness Forgets is my current favourite. Love that place.

FAVOURITE DRINK?

I always seem to order Manhattans everywhere, but anything Ali or Adam from Hawksmoor make me I usually like. Most times a beer and a shot though to be honest.

Bad ass barman/rock n roll moment?

At Oporto on your last night the owner gives you a bottle of Jager, puts you on the bartop and instructs you to dance and drink until you have finished the bottle. I remember conducting the crowd along to Bohemian Rhapsody, then it gets hazy. To be honest a lot of nights there were like that though.

Ever done it on a bar?

Not that I can remember. They're a bit high for that aren't they?

What's next for you?

A new site in a few months, very excited about it.

Best/worst chat up lines you've heard at a bar?

I used to work in another place with one of my current bartenders, and he pulled a girl by giving her a note on which he’d drawn a big trophy with ‘CONGRATULATIONS, BEST BOOBS OF THE NIGHT’ written underneath. They live together now. Not sure if that counts as the best or the worst really.

Tell us a secret or something we don't know?

I used to sing soprano in a choir. Not sure I can reach those notes now…

If you were to make a barchick cocktail, what would you put in it?

We serve so many of these at the moment I think it has to be the Wonky Donkey: Grey Goose Le Citron, red berry shrub, Domaine de Canton, Jerry Thomas decanter bitters, clementine juice. Good for what ails ya.

How do you like your Martini?

Cold and not that dry with a twist. I’m down with a big shot of frozen gin, but that isn’t a martini in my book, it needs more vermouth.

What did you want to be as a kid?

Taller.