Bartenders

Steve Manktelow

Type

Bartenders

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

New Zealand

WHERE DO YOU/HAVE YOU WORKED?

I started working in bars in New Zealand on Christmas eve 1992 and since then memorable bars have been Pharmacy, Eclipse and Boujis. I now work at Goat, Chelsea.

FAVORITE BARS?

I’m a big fan of Nightjar and 69 Colebrooke Row, although I spend more time at Goat obviously, and Maggies for geographical reasons, and I love Maggies. It’s just more fun than other bars.

FAVOURITE DRINK?

I love a well-made Daiquiri with a 7-8 year old rum and a dash of orange bitters.

Bad ass barman/rock n roll moment?

Discovering a hatch in the ceiling of the bar back room in a certain bar in Soho And thinking it would be a great idea to play an extended game of chase on the rooftops (it wasn’t, annoyingly they all have alarms. All of them).

Ever done it on a bar?

Of course.

What's next for you?

Expanding my herd.

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

The worst was a friend of mine standing in the middle of a bar offering a bowl of peanuts to girls as they walked past while saying ‘peanut?’

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

Shaking a martini does not bruise the gin, the only thing it bruises is the credibility of someone who believes this.

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

A shot of tequila, because everyone has fun while drinking tequila, and I would call it the "Little Chickadee" - my wife actually calls me that...

How do you like your Martini?

3 to 1 Portobello gin to Lillet blanc with a orange zest (and shake the life out of it please).

What did you want to be as a kid?

A lawyer for the 30 seconds up until when I told my parents, after which they said they would dis-own me if I did. Crushing for an 8 year old. Watching ‘Cocktail’ in 1988 seems to have damaged my subconscious.