ABC Bartending Schools - Bartender Jobs & Employment

Impress your guests, or find
a new career, behind the bar
By Jennifer Olvera

When it comes to throwing a bash, it’s hard to deny that libations play an integral role. In addition to being the festivity’s fuel, thoughtful beverage selection also can be a tasty way to show guests you care. The problem is, many people don’t know a mai tai from a Singapore sling---and cocktails more complex than, say, a rum-and-Coke can cause anxiety.

No excuses. The holidays are just around the corner, and it’s time to get with the program. Believe it or not, bartending courses can teach you to sport a superb salty dog, hone your creativity and become a better communicator.

“Both professional bartenders and housewives looking to throw parties are interested in learning to tend bar,” said Myong Park, a Chicago resident and former bartender who instructs at ABC Bartending Schools on Belmont Avenue. “It’s a life skill. It teaches you how to treat people well and make them feel good.”

In his free time, Park hosts parties for his nearest and dearest at home. “Being a good bartender means your guests don’t want to sit in front of the TV,” he said. “And it means you can be the life of the party. Who doesn’t want that?”

ABC’s classes teach everything from etiquette--women still get served first--to the difference between a highball and rocks glass. “Bartending classes go beyond the basics,” said Kelly Curtis, director of ABC. “You do learn how to make and serve drinks the right way, but you also learn what to--and not to-- talk about. A bartender, just like any good host, is there to please his guests.”

While most people don’t associate tending bar with keeping the peace (that’s the bouncer’s job), there is something to be said for a bartender who helps visitors get along.

ABC BARTENDING SCHOOLS: Offers 40-hour courses that meet on five consecutive days as well as weekend sessions, which last three weeks. Beyond learning how to create traditional drinks, bartenders-in-training begin fashioning beverages on the fly: 1034 W Belmont Ave, 312-664-0074. The school also has a location in MT. Prospect (1699 Wall St.; 847-228-0700

Instructor Myong Park says that learning to help people feel good is an important skill.

THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2003

How to be your own bartender

BY PAIGE WISER

Bars are magical places, full of smoke, fried foods, happy people with lowered standards ...and almost always alcohol. But what happens when you entertain at home? Not only are you expected to have a fully stocked bar, but those baby pearl onions had better be at the ready, and you may hear reports that the drapes are on fire. Panicked, we sought guidance on the art of being your own bartender.

Q. Should I watch "Cocktail"?
A. "The Tom Cruise movie"? Never hurts," muses Jack McKim, the director of ABC Bartending Schools (847-228-0700). The air-borne, spinning techniques are called "flair bartending" -still very popular in places like Las Vegas and Disney World. But Pace warn that there's a distinction that Cruise missed. "The trick to flair bartending is making a drink while performing the tricks," he says. "Not so in 'Cocktail'. "

Q. What are the biggest mistakes amateurs bartenders make?
A. Taking shortcuts. A cocktail recipe may look convoluted, but every step has a purpose. Chilling a glass, blending the ingredients for the proper amount of time, twisting the lemon into a martini rather than dropping it -a little extra time translates into taste.

Q. What are some of the intangibles about bartending -the stuff you can only learn through experience?
A. It's all about the customers (or, in our case, guests). "They can have quirks on exactly how they prefer to have the drink made," says McKim. " 'Shaken, not stirred' comes to mind."

Q. What are the latest fabulous cocktails?
A. New and trendy is so... last summer. this year, the classics are back. "The Cosmopolitan, Kamikaze, Sex on the Beach, Martinis, Long Island Ice Tea, Woo Woo," Pace suggests. "I bartend at night in Vancouver [British Columbia], and the most popular drink was a Long Island Ice Tea." Just make sure the traditional drinks are prepared properly, say McKim. "Martinis, Manhattans, Rob Roys, Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sours. They have been made since Prohibition, and still are popular today."

Q. How can a party host stock a home bar without going bankrupt?
A. The basic liquors should do the job: vodka, gin, rum, tequila, scotch and whiskey. A popular brand name of each will run you about $10-$20 each. "You should also have things like dry and sweet vermouth, triple-sec, lime juice and grenadine for mixing cocktails," Pace says. If you're inviting more than 30 people, consider professional help, McKim suggests. His school can help stock the bar and juggle drink orders while you mingle.

Q. What about barware -is it necessary to invest in grappa glasses?
A. You should be alright with rock glasses, highball glasses, martini glasses and margarita glasses. Or you could simplify things with high-end plastic glasses. "A cordial glass can be used for grappa," recommends McKim.

The adventures of on bleary-eyed Texan at the Harvard of bartending schools.

By Adam Pitluk

Jeff Hoferer moseyed on down to Fort Lauderdale's ABC Bartending School from Dallas, Texas, to learn how to make a mean cocktail

A drunk, horny guy hits a drunk, horny town -- to learn how to make people drunk and horny.

American Airlines flight 2042 from Dallas, Texas, has just arrived at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. Pale, pasty South westerners file out like a flock of happy sheep, wide-eyed and excited.

Ever since he graduated with a marketing and international-business degree from Kansas State University in 1999 -- the 24-year-old Hoferer has worked as a bar and concert promoter in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

A few weeks back, though, he had an epiphany. Staring down the barrel of a shot glass he had just drained of Jägermeister, Hoferer saw his future: He'd move to Los Angeles and make it big as an actor-model, but not before jetting to South Florida to earn his license to kill... brain cells, that is.

Yes, Jeff Hoferer is here to attend Fort Lauderdale's ABC Bartending School, the Harvard of mixology. Sure, there are other bartending schools, but this is the big one.

He does pick up some rules of thumb to take into his first day of school: The more drinks you serve, the more tips you earn; a guy on a date is a bartender's best friend; and no real man ever orders a Tom Collins in public.

ABC has been schooling the supply side since before Hoferer learned to read. The largest chain of bar schools in the country, ABC boasts 13 schools nationwide (and five more on the way). It's a multimillion-dollar venture, granting 7000 degrees a year in cities coast to coast -- and Broward County is where it all began.

When Tony Sylvester opened his first bartending school in Broward County in 1977 on the corner of State Road 7 and Coconut Creek Parkway, he knew there was no guarantee. "It was a gamble," Sylvester says from behind his desk, His desk sits front and center of the establishment, flanked by framed thank-you notes from various bars around the country. "But just like the American Dream, a little hard work still pays off in this country," he adds.

This Bill Gates with a twist of lemon grew up in an orphanage. He has no more than a ninth-grade education, but despite his accomplishments he keeps his ego mostly in check: He doesn't want to forget his Passaic, New Jersey, roots. He keeps his reminders close at hand: His GED, crusty and faded, dated December 19, 1975, stands on a filing cabinet behind his desk, while a picture of him in the orphanage graces his desk at home. He still works ten hours a day, seven days a week.

But larger than life is a framed poster of the world's greatest celebrity bartender -- none other than Brian Flanagan (as played by Tom Cruise) leaning over a bar, baby blues glistening in the pink neon light of the sign that hangs above him: Cocktail.

So if your looking to learn how to bartend just call 1-888-COCKTAIL.

Sunday, September 22, 2002

Ex-dot-commers belly up to the bar!

by David Lazarus

They've been joined by a variety of others seeking new opportunities amid the economic downturn - a trend that's seen enrollment boom at bartending schools in the Bay Area.

"This industry is pretty recession-proof," said Chris Grant, director of ABC Bartending School in San Leandro. "When times are good, people drink. When times are bad, people drink."

All local bartending schools say they've been deluged with former dot-commers and technology professionals seeking careers in a slightly less volatile field.

Business Monday

ABC Bartending School director Kim Chiacchiaretti and owner Tony Sylvester with his newest bartending school at 5036 Katella Avenue in Los Alamitos. ABC has schools nationwide and now has its first location in California. Founder Tony Sylvester is a third generation bartender, who opened his first bartending school and started teaching his craft in 1977. He plans to open three or four more schools in Los Angeles County soon. The 40-hour program can be done in 1, 2 or 3 weeks. To reach the school call 1-888-Cocktail (1-888-262-5824.)

Marilynn Young/Press-Telegram

ABC Bartending Schools

Where You Can Become a Master of Mixology

By Lauren Halperin

07/10/2002

Today’s classroom of tomorrow’s bartenders includes Tony Genco, 22, a recent South Florida implant from New Jersey, and Craig Silverberg and Michael Barrows, both 31 and both looking for career switches. Perla Bodden, 21, wants a job in an area nightclub and knew ABC Bartending Schools was the best start to her new profession.

Since 1977, Tony Sylvester has been the key ingredient of the largest bartending schools in the country, matching the right faces with the right places. At ABC, students are taught to walk, talk and think like a bartender. Third generation in the hospitality industry, Sylvester has set up opportunities for his ABC Bartending School graduates across the country once they graduate from what has been called “the Harvard of Mixology schools.”

ABC now boasts 15 schools nationwide, including seven schools in Florida along with plans for further expansion before 2003. This multi-million dollar venture grants over 7,000 bartending degrees each year in cities across the country. Not bad for one man’s simple entrepreneurial belief: “Have a dream and work hard for it.”

“Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer.”
--- Frederick the Great ---

At first glance, the classroom looks like any other tavern or bar. Instead of desks, students sit at the bar, on barstools, next to sipping straws, strainers, and selections of garnishes. Behind the instructor are three shelves, which span the width of the bar, loaded with a kaleidoscope of liquor bottles. The bottles are different sizes, colors, and contain different types of alcohol, with recognizable brands like Bacardi, Captain Morgan’s, Crème de Cacao, Bailey’s, Absolut, and Peppermint Schnapps. The other side of the ‘desk’ is a full working bar, stocked with different size glasses, liquors, and ice.