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Frederic Yarm of Russell House Tavern, Cambridge, MA
Photo courtesy of Maggie Campbell of Privateer Rum |
In April 2014, I
wrote a cover feature for The Improper Bostonian entitled “Pouring Reign”, in which I interviewed twelve
Boston bartenders I admire. Six are veteran talents I felt had been overlooked
by local media; six are newcomers promising enough to get themselves situated
in some of our top bar programs. All had many more interesting things to say
than I could fit in the space allowed.
How many more? My
initial draft ran to 10,000 words, but the feature was allotted 2500; I begged
my editors for more room, and they generously let it swell to 3500, a very long
feature for the publication.
As happy as I was
with the piece (and especially the gorgeous accompanying portrait photography
by Adam DeTour), a lot of great material got left on the cutting-room
floor. I got permission to run the unexpurgated interviews here. Here’s the
fourth one, my unedited interview with Frederick Yarm, a relative newcomer to
the bartending scene whose work as a cocktail writer I’ve been reading for
years, both for his blog and his 2012 book Drink & Tell: A Boston Cocktail Book, a historical tour of Boston's cocktail scene. His was another interview that space constraints forced me to slash
drastically, so I’m glad to be able to offer the unwhittled version here.
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MC SLIM JB:
Improper readers may not know about your Cocktail Virgin blog, or how it has found you sampling and documenting
thousands of cocktails from Greater Boston bars for over six and a half years.
Russell House Tavern is your first professional bartending gig. How has being a
prolific cocktail blogger shaped your experience and outlook as a bartender?
And vice versa: how has manning the stick professionally changed your
perspective as a cocktail blogger?
FREDERIC YARM:
Tasting and writing about a lot about drinks has not shaped my outlook as a
bartender so much as the experience of sitting at lots of bars in the process;
observing both the good and bad of hospitality, techniques, recipes, and
interactions has been an invaluable learning experience. My work with the blog
has given me a lot of exposure to a wide variety of styles out there and the
pros and cons of each. Discussing my knowledge about cocktails, techniques, and
local establishments does help with guest rapport and has helped to solidify
some regulars.
Manning the stick
professionally has encouraged me to be a more easy going guest, and this has
caused me lighten up a bit both in my attitude and the posting rate. If I do
not see something on the cocktail menu that I wish to write about, I often will
order a beer. If it is a slower night, I will see if the bartender has some off
menu items that they wish to make, but I will not push the issue. I definitely
want to keep the blog going, but it has become one of my cocktail outlets
instead of the main one.
MC: Measure or
free-pour?
FY: I originally
thought I was only going to jigger everything, but after working a few busy
brunches, I got tired of the amount of washing it took to get all traces of
serrano pepper-infused mezcal that we use in our Mezcal Mary out of a jigger. I
tested out my free pour, and my count is pretty solid for a 2 ounce pour. I
will not free pour for anything other than simple drinks like Highballs and
Bloody Marys though.
MC: Drink that
you wish more customers would order?
FY: Drinks with
vermouth. For some reason, the Manhattan drinker does not shy away from
vermouth nor specify the proportions, but the Martini drinker does. Fresh
vermouth is delightful, and I often opt for a 2:1 or equal parts Martini at
home. And many guests look confused when you tell them that vermouth and other
aromatized wines are a delight to drink on the rocks with an orange twist.
MC, aside: Right
on!
MC: Drink you
wish customers would forget existed?
FY: I have a
section in my bar notebook dedicated to “those 70s drinks.” I cannot (or choose
not to) remember the difference between a Bay Breeze and a Sea Breeze, and most
of them are just fruit mixtures to hide the flavor of vodka.
MC: What is your
most prized bartending accoutrement, e.g., spoon, ice tool, ice mold, shaker,
mixing glass, knife, Lewis bag, cocktail book, serving glass, other piece of
barware or glassware?
FY: A beautiful
inlaid three-wood ice crushing mallet made by CME Handworks that I have at
home. Actually, it’s a furniture wood carving mallet and they were surprised
and amused by my application. I also bought one for Ryan Lotz when he was at
Lineage for I felt that he deserved better than the camping mallet he was using
to crush ice at the time. At work, I have access to crushed ice from our Kold-Draft machine, so the mallet stays at home.
MC: Most annoying
customer behavior?
FY: Impatience,
feelings of entitlement, and lack of sense of humor when things get busy. If
guests want a more perfect experience, they should go on the off hours and
slower nights. Then again, that suggestion would fall on deaf ears to those
types.
MC: Every
bartender has a collection of Fiasco Moments, e.g., the tray of glasses smashed
into the ice bin, the flyaway tin that resulted in a guest wearing a shakerful
of cocktails, the strangers you introduced at your bar that ended up in a
murder/suicide, your proud original creation that customers hated, etc. What’s
a particularly egregious / entertaining one of yours?
FY: So far there
has been little that has gone too wrong bartending-wise save for a few customers
who have gotten a little splash of water from our glass washer or other minor
mishaps. Therefore, I’d have to say go with not refusing service to disruptive
customers. There was one guest who kept harassing customers more so with each
return to the bar during the day, and had to be ejected after the third return.
Or the two townie drunks who made such a mess of the place. Besides sucking up
a lot of my time, it can make the other guests rather uncomfortable to the
point that they transfer from the bar to the table or leave the establishment
completely. I am getting better at
dealing with these characters but it is sometimes difficult to switch from a
hospitality mode to a more authoritarian state. And this discomfort to guests
is probably far -worse than splashing a customer or spilling some drinks.
MC: What’s the
best day of the week and time of day for a customer to engage you in a
leisurely, educational five-minute conversation about drinks?
FY: Lately, I
work mostly day shifts during the week that only can get busy during the lunch
burst and the pre-dinner rush. Still, I can generally find time to talk to
guests at length save for some Fridays, holidays, and brunch shifts, especially
if they are fine with interruptions as I attend to drink tickets and other
guests.
MC: You may have
seen this New York Times article on the in-house lingo of certain NYC bars. What’s one of your house’s code words/phrases for intra-staff communication in
front of customers?
FY: Yes, we have
them, but they are usually tied to a bartender’s, bar back’s, or regular’s name
(making it into a verb), so no I don’t feel at ease mentioning them.
MC: What’s your
typical end-of-shift drink?
FY: When I have
worked nights, it has been Fernet Branca and/or a shift beer from our bottle
and cans collection. During the day, my shift drinks have to be done elsewhere.
Often, I just wait until I get home, but on a bad day, it’s often stopping in
somewhere close by or on the way home for a beer unless I can think of an out
of the way place that has a new cocktail on their menu to check out for the
blog.
MC: Do you have a
guilty-pleasure drink, the kind of thing you wouldn’t want your peers or
customers to catch you drinking?
FY: Not sure I
have guilty pleasures like that save for drinking High Lifes although I do that
without shame. And when lowbrow things like Fireball or blackberry brandy shots
are consumed, I am often with my peers. I do remember when Josh Childs
interviewed me for Boston.com after Drink & Tell: A Boston Cocktail Book
came out, he forced the question and I answered a Rusty Nail, although that’s a
legitimate enough drink that I am not embarrassed about consuming.
MC: What are a couple
of dives you favor on your own time?
FY: Last dive I
went to was Paddy’s Lunch for one of the Russell House Tavern bartenders does a
few shifts there. But that falls into the realm of why I go out drinking which
includes being in front of a specific bartender. Luke O’Neil included Charlie’s Kitchen in his
dive bar book [Boston's Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in Beantown], so I’ll add that, but I generally go there with co-workers
instead of choosing it on my own.
MC: Dr.
Bartender, what’s the best cure for my hangover?
FY: For settling
the stomach, ginger beer or Angostura bitters works well, as does dried candied
ginger. For the headache, Advil and coffee will be your friend. Getting fluids
is key, but water alone will not provide the lost electrolytes. I am a fan of
toughing it out, but if the malaise cannot be shaken by mid-afternoon,
sometimes a single drink can even things out.
MC: Most
ridiculous / overhyped / bullshit trend?
FY: I deleted my
response – I don’t want to speak negatively about anyone’s bar program or
things they include in their bar program, at least publicly.
MC: As a bar
customer yourself, what’s one aspect of Boston’s bars that you wish more
operators would do a better job of?
FY: Turning over
bar menus. It has become rather common at many establishments that cocktail
menus stay static for great lengths of time indicating a lack of focus on the
program.
MC: What’s the
most ridiculous thing a Yelper (or other amateur reviewer) has ever said about
you or the place you work?
FY: I have only
made it into one Yelp review; it was more praising the brunch food and it
happened to mention that the bartender was great. Between the food order and
the party size, I was able to deduce it to the crew of eight who showed up to
my ten seat bar on New Year’s Day a few minutes before open.
MC: What
bartender or bar manager, currently working or retired, is your first-ballot
lock for entry into Boston’s Bartending Hall of Fame?
FY: John Gertsen
for having a vision and enacting on it to elevate Boston’s stature in the cocktail
world, and Josh Childs for showing that keeping it simple and focusing on
warmth and hospitality is just as important as what is in the glass if not more
so.
MC: Offer a
sentence or two of advice to aspiring bartenders.
FY: Two sayings
that stick in my head are Sam Treadway’s “Bartending is about watering down
spirits and babysitting adults” and John Gertsen’s “If you know where
everything lives and know how to smile, you’ll be a great bartender.” Both of
those sayings remove the ego-driven ideals that plague a lot of bartenders, for
a great bartender is one that makes the guests feel special and not one that
reinforces the idea that the bartender is the star. And lastly, always keep
learning. Read, taste, discuss. And know when guests just want a drink instead
of even a hint of pleasantries much less a lecture.
MC: Say a few
words about your most influential bartending mentor.
FY: I would be
remiss if I did not name Sam Gabrielli who helped shape me from a restaurant
industry newbie into a bartender. I am also thankful for fellow bartender Adam
Hockman; when I have complained about certain situations, instead of just
giving me a “that sucks” reply, he offers solid advice gathered from his years
of experience behind the stick.
MC: What’s the
most surprisingly useful life skill that bartending has taught you?
FY: Always be
closing. Bartending is a job that relies on salesmanship, and less about
glorified ideals. Success at previous
jobs meant completing projects by a deadline, but that was not tied to my
salary which was pretty much fixed. One of the bar backs agreed that learning
to close is an important life skill, whether for money or for romance, that
should be learned as early in life as possible. Indeed, the movie GlengarryGlen Ross has taught me that coffee’s for closers.
