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| Moira Costello Horan of The Franklin Southie Photo courtesy of Moira Costello Horan |
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 number
six, my unedited interview with Moira Costello Horan, whom I first ran into at
Union Bar & Grille in the South End, later at Local 149 in Southie’s City
Point neighborhood, and later still at The Franklin Southie, where she is
currently the bar manager. Here are Moira’s original, unvarnished words.
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MC SLIM JB: The
life of a professional bartender is a vampiric existence, in the sense that you
don’t see a lot of daylight. Plus there’s that pesky requirement to work
weekends and holidays, times that many professions enjoy as time off. How do
you manage to work a social life, let alone a romantic life, around these
constraints? Aside from the professional compensations, are there other
advantages to the night owl’s existence that civilians aren’t aware of?
MOIRA COSTELLO
HORAN: It is a vampiric existence, but there are many advantages to it. I'm
never stuck in traffic, there's never a line at the supermarket, the days I
have off are slow ones at bars and restaurants. Restaurants become your family,
so holidays are spent with the people you love and care about. I honestly don't
have a lot of friends who aren't in the industry because it just doesn't make
sense. My boyfriend is a fellow bartender, so we understand each other's
schedules. Being so social as a profession makes me want to just stay home on
my time off. There is no better place than my couch and being quiet.
MCSJB: Measure or
free-pour?
MCH: Measure
cocktails, free-pour mixed drinks.
MCSJB: Drink that
you wish more customers would order?
MCH: Gin martinis
with a twist. They're delicious.
MCSJB: Drink you
wish customers would forget existed?
MCH: Dirty vodka
martinis. They're disgusting.
MCSJB: 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?
MCH: I have lots
of tools, but don't particularly feel like the tools make the bartender.
MCSJB: Most
annoying customer behavior?
MCH: Don't wave
in my face, don't interrupt me when I'm talking to someone else, don't give me
a drink order when I ask you how you're doing.
MCSJB: Spirit
that more customers should be trying, and your favorite cocktail or bottling to
introduce a newbie to it?
MCH: Gin is one
of my favorite spirits because it’s so versatile. People have so many negative
thoughts about gin because of one bad experience in their youth. Screw vodka: I
like to get every vodka drinker to at least try gin because essentially it's
just flavored vodka. Start with something simple like a Tom Collins, because
who doesn't like a Tom Collins?
MCSJB: 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?
MCH: On a quiet
night when it’s slow. Ask if I have the time first. I will always try to find
the time to talk cocktails.
MCSJB: You may
have seen this NY 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?
MCH: Two words:
“bar meeting”.
MCSJB: What’s
your typical end-of-shift drink?
MCH: Beer and a
shot: Rittenhouse straight American rye and a Notch Pils, please.
MCSJB: Do you
have a guilty-pleasure drink, the kind of thing you wouldn’t want your peers or
customers to catch you drinking?
MCH: A piña
colada. That love came from when I used to live and bartend in Puerto Rico. The
difference is now I can use quality ingredients, none of that frozen
nonsense.
MCSJB: What’s the
last astonishing restaurant meal you had other than at your place?
MCH: Sarma.
Delicious. Great staff. I can't wait to go back.
MCSJB: What are a
couple of dives you favor on your own time?
MCH: Tom English's on Dot Ave. Whitey's. Delux Cafe before it closed.
MC, aside:
Happily, the Delux Café has since reopened under new ownership.
MCSJB: Dr.
Bartender, what’s the best cure for my hangover?
MCH: Hair of the
dog. Pedialyte and Green Chartreuse.
MCSJB, aside: I
assume that’s a sequence, not a cocktail.
MCSJB: Most
interesting current trend in cocktails?
MCH: Amaro-based
cocktails are the jam right now.
MCSJB: Most
ridiculous / overhyped / bullshit trend?
MCH: Yeungling.
Who cares?
MCSJB: As a bar
customer yourself, what’s one aspect of Boston’s bars that you wish more operators
would do a better job of?
MCH: Vermouth in
the well.
MCSJB: What
Greater Boston bar is absolutely killing it right now? Of all their qualities,
what’s the single standout attribute that makes you want to drink there?
MCH: Tavern Road,
because every bartender there is amazingly talented. They make you feel like
family as soon as you walk in the door. That's my kind of bar.
MCSJB: What
bartender or bar manager, currently working or retired, is your first-ballot
lock for entry into Boston’s Bartending Hall of Fame?
MCH: Peter Cipriani [currently at The Franklin Southie]. He is the whole package.
MCSJB, aside: I'm a big fan of Mr. Cipriani, too.
MCSJB: Offer a
sentence or two of advice to aspiring bartenders.
MCH: Try and find
the balance between hospitality and knowledge.
MCSJB: Say a few
words about your most influential bartending mentor.
MCH: Tom Mastricola [most recently of Commonwealth Cambridge, currently preparing to open Café Artscience]. I met him over three years ago and he's been my go-to guy since.
He's legendary and has helped me become the bartender I am today.
MCSJB: What’s the
most surprisingly useful life skill that bartending has taught you?
MCH:
Patience.
MCSJB: Compose
the question you think I should have asked, and answer it.
MCH: “What do you
love the most about bartending?” Giving the best possible guest experience,
making people smile, and learning.
