Meet Jennifer Seidman!
Owner of Acme Bar & Company, Jennifer is a hospitality veteran. She is a self-taught whiskey collector and certified sommelier. The bar has an award-winning collection of whiskey and mezcal. Located in Berkeley, California, Acme Bar & Company even has a cocktail education program.
Let’s meet the woman behind the bar.
What was the inspiration behind this bar?
I have always felt that people, myself included, want to drink great quality spirits, beer, wine, and cocktails in a casual, relaxed, warm environment. I would go out and want to drink fine spirits, but the only places I could go were fancy restaurants and hotel bars. So I created a warm, friendly neighborhood bar known for quality drinks.
Are there any cocktails that are customer favorites?
Acme’s house Old Fashioned has been a crowd favorite for years. We sold 4,607 in pre-pandemic 2019, 1,736 in Covid 2020.
Who created the bar menu? What inspired the cocktails?
Our bar menu is always a collaboration of everyone on staff. All bartenders create the cocktail menu together. They develop and work on recipes on their own, then as a team, we make them together, critique and tweak them, and voila! House cocktail menu. The menu changes regularly, it’s inspired by many things. Acme has had politically inspired menus, cartoon-inspired, music-inspired, and seasonally inspired (holiday menus).
Acme Bar & Co offers a Cocktail of the Week! What inspired this?
During 2020 when cocktails to-go became a thing, we came up with doing a weekly cocktail special to give our customers something yummy and different every week. During the lockdowns, we all needed something to look forward to, and this was our way of giving our customers something fun during a dark time.
What makes this bar stand apart from others? Are there any special techniques that have been implemented behind the bar?
Acme is special because of its staff and customers. We strongly believe in creating a warm, welcoming environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all of our community. Our strong technique is belief in quality, consistency, training the crew to make the same drink every time. We measure pour all of our ingredients, use fresh juices, house-made syrups, and high-quality Small hand foods syrups; we stir our spirituous cocktails with thermometers; we use large format ice for our house Old fashioned and for single spirit pour or if requested by any customer. Acme has monthly meetings that include spirit, cocktails, beer/wine, and technical training.
Are there any trends you are seeing behind the bar?
A return to a true focus on quality and great service. I think bartenders and customers are tired of 20 ingredients, precious cocktails (I think they have been tired of it for a while). I think everyone is tired of the snobby bartender. I embrace the high-end whiskey drinker just as much as I embrace the vodka soda drinker. I have always believed bartenders are similar to the host of a great house party. They set the tone. They create the feel of the place. When you walk into my bar, the bartender greets you right away with a warm hello and a smile, no attitude, no pretentiousness. And then that bartender pours you the exact drink you want – that’s a great experience. I think it’s the direction bars are moving in. And if they are not, I know that’s exactly what my bar focuses on and believes in.
The post Toast to Bar Owner Jennifer Seidman, Women’s History Month appeared first on Chilled Magazine.
Source: Mixology News
