By Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
As partial as I am to my old tried-and-true haunts, I always get a thrill out of discovering new watering holes and barkeeps. They take me back to that first sip of sweet elixir I enjoyed in my youth and that wonderful sense of newness and discovery. Back in old Killkilly, it was the practice for every infant to down a small nip of whiskey every day until they got their sea legs beneath them. I remember it like it was yesterday, but my legs feel like it’s been 45 years… Imagine the look... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
BARTENDER OF THE MONTH: Allison DuBois of Casablanca I’ve never understood the fascination with “Casablanca.” It seems to pop up on everyone and their grandmother’s list of favorite films and is always mentioned as one of the most romantic movies of all time. I just don’t get it. Rick goes out on a limb to save Ilsa and her husband’s lives and best they can do is abandon him to eke out a miserable existence that ends, presumably, with Rick getting a Swiss cheese for a liver. Does romance... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
BARTENDER OF THE MONTH: Amber Banfield of Wynfields Sports Bar The concept of the Happy Hour is virtually unknown in my grey, rainy hometown of Killkilly. Sure, we have a few “Moments of Mirth,” as we call them, but blink and you’ll miss them. These rare moments, which usually entail the publican carving a little smiley face into the foam of your pint, are overshadowed by the “Melancholy Minute,” which happens at each quarter-hour, and the “Few Seconds of Deep... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinskey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
BARTENDER OF THE MONTH: Wendy Sadowski of Milliken’s Reef Among the many hobbies I’ve taken up since moving to Florida, snorkeling has to be my favorite — and it’s a lovely way to spend a sunny day if there ever was one. Unfortunately, I’ve never been much of a swimmer, so my recent expeditions have been confined to Port Canaveral’s Milliken’s Reef, a veritable paradise of tropical trappings and rare, brightly colored bottles. Here, you can snorkel down... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
BARTENDER OF THE MONTH: Gary Sadler of The Firehouse By Paddy McDrinksey I gave up a lot to live in Florida — a fairly well-paid job inseminating salmon at the Killkilly fishery, being close to my family (who are all terrible bastards, if the truth be told), a chance to inherit a bit of land, lovely sausages, and a few promising marriage prospects, one of whom was the daughter of a very prominent sausage salesman who promised me a better paid job and a larger tract of land conveniently far... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinskey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
Bartender of the Month: Becky Moore from Hooters of Merritt Island Though my hometown of Killkilly is a bit of a backwater, it’s not nearly as unsophisticated as some might imagine. There’s the old loom museum, for one, and the cinema…which actually was recently gutted to become the new loom museum after the orginal one burned down. So there’s really only the one loom museum we have to recommend us to any tourists, then. But apart from the lone loom museum, there’s... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
Bartender of the Month: Johnny Daniels of Fishlips Waterfront Bar & Grill It’s no secret that I’ve stumbled around the alcoholic block more than a few times in my career as a professional drinker, but it may shock people to know that I’ve enjoyed being in very few and am unlikely to return to a majority of them — especially old Rose Finnegan’s, from which I still feel the effects of being served a glass of her painfully delicious “Groin Punch.” You see,... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
Well amn’t I the lucky so-and-so! I’ve just found me muse, which is nice because my others weren’t really working out for me. The St. Pauli girl was easy on the eyes, there’s no denying that, but to be honest, it was all I could do to choke down one of her brews. By comparison, old Sam Adams makes a formidable elixir, but it just doesn’t do for a man to have another man as a muse. Not that I have anything against that kind of thing, but you understand. And the less... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
Though one of my personal favorites among our many “‘Tenders ‘o the Month,” Taco City’s own Don “Dash” Dasher is the one who’s been the most difficult to categorize, much less describe. Calling him Taco City’s mascot wouldn’t be far off the mark, but he’s so much more than that to so many people. Born in Cincinnati, OH, and raised in Chicago, “Dash” moved to Cocoa Beach with Taco City founder A.J. Meyers in 1980. Since... [Read more...]
By: Paddy McDrinksey
Article Category: Bartender of the Month
BARTENDER OF THE MONTH: Roxanne Polochak of Slow & Low As readers may recall, I spent last month holed up in the Stumble Inn Detoxification Centre in my hometown of Killkilly. How’d it my cure go, you ask? Spendidly, thanks very much, unless you count the the time I busted my chin and two teeth falling off the wagon only two hours after having arrived back beachside. Riding on a wagon isn’t as easy as it seems, which is perhaps why the wooden rattletraps have been largely replaced... [Read more...]
