Ladies’ Choice: Women Behind Bars
Posted on May 11, 2011
Filed Under Marleigh Riggins | 3 Comments
A Pre-Tales Q&A with panel moderator Lynnette Marrero
Lynnette Marrero / Ada Coleman
“From mold-breaking saloon owners to current day cocktail mavens, women have had a vital, though often overlooked, impact on the evolution of bars and cocktails.” Lynnette Marrero, bartender and president of LUPEC NYC, plus an all-star cast of some of the most influential modern female bartenders, will present an inspiring history of ladies like Ada Coleman, the former head bartender of the Savoy Hotel in London, and Helen David, who opened the Brass Rail Bar in Michigan during the tumult of the Great Depression. Alcohol had an especially profound effect upon social changes, among them women’s suffrage and, after Prohibition, the relaxing of mores that allowed women into bars to drink. According to the official Tales of the Cocktail synopsis: “With the spirit and wit specific to lady barkeeps, we plan to raise a glass (or more) to the women that have influenced cocktail history.”
Tales Blog: What prompted you to develop a seminar on the history of women in cocktails?
Lynette: Each year we are seeing more and more LUPEC chapters popping up and we are also seeing a new generation of women barkeeps emerging. We thought it was the right time to usher in a new generation of women bartenders while looking back at the women who paved the way for us.
Tales Blog: Who else is going to be on your panel?
Lynette: Meaghan Dorman, Raines Law Room and LUPEC NYC; Misty Kalkofen Drink and LUPEC Boston; Kirsten Amann, LUPEC Boston; and Audrey Saunders [bartender and owner of NYC's Pegu Club].
Tales Blog: What do you hope attendees in your seminar will come away with?
Lynette: An understanding of women’s roles in shaping bars and the cocktail world, and drinking establishments.
Tales Blog: Which cocktails will be featured in your seminar?
Lynette: The Pink Lady (of course, with Laird’s Applejack—a family run business headed up by Lisa Laird), Ada “Coley” Coleman’s Hanky Panky, and Audrey Saunders’ Gin-Gin Mule.
Tales Blog: What is your favorite part of Tales of the Cocktail?
Lynette: It’s a great opportunity to enjoy the company of my bar friends from all over the globe. New Orleans generously opens its arms, restaurants and watering holes to the best group of degenerates I know!
Purchase your Tales passes to participate in “Ladies’ Choice” on Thursday, July 21 from 1–2:30 PM in the Grand Ballroom North at The Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street, New Orleans.
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[...] summer. On Thursday, July 21 from 1pm-2:30pm we’ll team up with LUPEC broads from New York for “Ladies’ Choice: Women Behind Bars,” a seminar saluting our spirited forebroads, much as we do in this here column. From [...]
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