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Will Isaza of Fairsted Kitchen, Brookline, MA
Photo courtesy of Will Isaza |
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 second one, my unedited interview with
Will Isaza of
Fairsted Kitchen, an independent restaurant in Washington Square,
Brookline. I first got to know Will as I was researching
my review of Fairsted for The Improper, where he impressed me as a relatively new talent.
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MC SLIM JB:
Will, you've probably seen my Improper Bostonian review of Fairsted Kitchen, in which I note its extraordinary hospitality ethos. You may have read my essay about the importance of hospitality to the bartender's game. Is hospitality something
that can be learned, or is it purely innate? Did you come in with that
inclination already built-in? How does Fairsted cultivate that attitude in the
staff?
WILL ISAZA: I think that if someone wants to make a
career out of this industry, hospitality should be the first priority. We are
in the business of satisfying people through food and drink, but having that
little extra flair to make a guest smile I don't think can be taught. I've
always loved meeting new people and interacting with many different
personalities, it's pretty cool to have a job where I can do that on a nightly
basis. My bosses; Andrew Foster, Steve Bowman, and Patrick Gaggiano, have
instilled much of that philosophy at Fairsted. They want everyone who walks
through the door to feel as though they're at home having dinner/drinks amongst
family. Of course that only works because of the staff, we all kind of have
that family sense as a staff including management and ownership, therefore that
is reflected when we are in the middle of service. Being a small staff helps a
lot, but we all genuinely like each other and I don't think that was a mistake.
Those guys just really enjoy creating a home style environment and having a
great time with guests, which not many places in Boston can do.
MC: Measure or free-pour?
WI: Mostly measure.
MC: Drink that you wish more customers would order?
WI: Vieux Carre.
MC: Drink you wish customers would forget existed?
WI: None, they all should be consumed by those who love them!
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?
WI: Just give me ice and a Boston shaker and I'll figure out the rest.
I'm not really one to be picky about that stuff.
MC: Most annoying customer behavior?
WI: To quote Mr. [Andrew] Foster, "Never really
had annoying guests, just people who don't know what they want". And
that's what we're here for.
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?
WI: Back when I first started tending bar, I was working a busy Friday night service bar, and the guests in
front of me got into a really huge argument and proceeded to start their
divorce as they had dinner. I gave them a couple shots and told them to love
each other, the woman involved immediately started crying and left the bar. Whoops.
MC: Spirit, wine or beer that more customers should be trying?
WI: Rum or rhum [agricole]. You would think people drink more of it, but they really
don't.
MC: Your favorite cocktail or bottling to introduce a newbie to it?
WI: It all depends on the individual and what flavors they naturally
enjoy. Everyone is different. I never really have a "go-to" recipe
without interacting with someone.
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?
WI: I would say Mondays at around 6pm or Tuesdays
at around 5pm.
WI: "Getting Crowed" is unique to Fairsted Kitchen. We treat
our VIP guests to a fantastic shot of Old Crow Reserve.
MC: What’s your typical end-of-shift drink?
WI: Whisky or whiskey, that's it.
MC: What’s a great book / film / record / play / TV show you’ve consumed recently
and recommend?
MC: Do you have a guilty-pleasure drink, the kind of thing you wouldn’t want
your peers or customers to catch you drinking?
WI: Daiquiris all around, please. Guests seem confused when I tell them
that, but most of my peers share my affinity for daiquiris -- don't you?
[MC: Yep.]
MC: What’s the last astonishing restaurant meal you had (what and where) other
than at your employer's?
WI: In Boston I haven't really had time to go out and about because of
work, but on vacation, Sylvain in New Orleans was the last great memorable meal
I had and would recommend in a heartbeat. The meal was solid from start to
finish and the one dish that stood out the most to me was a braised Wagyu beef
belly on a bed of toasted parsnips. Just saying it makes me want to go
back!
MC: What are a couple of dives you favor on your own time?
WI: Sligo in Davis Square has always been great, but recently, O’Leary’s
on Beacon Street in Brookline has slowly but surely become a black hole of
greatness.
MC: Dr. Bartender, what’s the best cure for my hangover?
WI: Cure? The key is to never go to sleep.
MC: Most interesting current trend in cocktails, beer or wine?
WI: I would put bottled cocktails and beer cocktails at the top of the
list for current trends.
MC: Most ridiculous / overhyped / bullshit trend?
WI: Bars calling themselves "craft cocktail bars" as opposed to
just bars. Over-hyped and bullshit. All great bars should be able to make you a
great cocktail and tell you everything you need to know about the ingredients
used.
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?
WI: As a guest, I wish that bartenders would focus more on helping me
have a great time, rather than just feed me information on what I'm drinking.
Most of the times I go to bars to drink, eat, and have a good time, not to be
educated.
MC: 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?
WI: I think Boston as a whole is killing it right now. It's really tough
to single out any one bar.
MC: What are the top destinations on your Bars of the World Bucket List?
WI: Bar High Five in Tokyo is definitely up in my Bucket List. The
Floridita in Havana and Bodeguita Del Medio in Havana, which I have had the
pleasure of attending were the two bars that I really wanted to go to for a
long time. I remember the bartender at Bodeguita Del Medio looked at me and
said, "Here is the first mojito you have ever had, all the rest have been
merely an imitation". Paired with a handmade Cohiba, it was by far the
best bar experience I've ever had.
MC: Offer a sentence or two of advice to aspiring bartenders.
WI: I would tell an aspiring bartender to always keep in mind that your
job is to make other people happy, not just yourself. And to enjoy every moment
behind any bar, because if you don't enjoy what you’re doing or where you work,
then what’s the point? Cocktails, beer, wine, etc. can always be taught and you
will only learn as much as you allow yourself to learn.
MC: Say a few words about your most influential bartending mentor.
WI: The first bar manager I ever worked for definitely showed me the
ropes and gave me a chance when a lot of people wouldn't. I would say that my
style of tending bar was greatly influenced by what he taught me. Also my brother,
Moe Isaza, currently a manager at Grafton Street, always pushed me to try new
things, and from him I learned the most important thing of all: if I'm not
having fun while I'm behind a bar, the people I'm serving won't be
either.
MC: What’s the most surprisingly useful life skill that bartending has taught
you?
WI: Communication in every aspect has definitely been the most useful
life skill that tending bar has taught me. You would be surprised how many
people start problems and/or misunderstandings by simply not being able to
communicate.
