Vintage Eve July 2017: Art Beyond the Glass 2017

L.A.’s Top Bartenders Celebrated “Six Years of Cocktails, Community and A Great Cause” during the sixth Art Beyond The Glass held at Los Globos in LA on June 25… Proceeds from ABTG VI will go to The Moth, the award-winning nonprofit that that celebrates the ability of stories to honor the diversity and commonality of human experience.

Thrilled to cover this unique event a second time, especially a chance to escape the heat at home, Los Globos was the perfect venue in the not too far off Silver Lake neighborhood.

Multiple stories, live music, food and tons of air conditioning kept guests happily scattered from bar to bar to bar for four fun-filled hours. (If you only have three minutes, you can view my slideshow of the event here.)

Bartenders, some dressed in 60s garb, some as medics and others just in tanks emblazoned with their bar’s names were almost as entertaining as the concoctions we tried that incorporated everything from gin to vodka, bitters, botanicals to fresh fruit.

I honestly think I tasted a cocktail from every bar, and when I thought one was so unique the next one I tried would prove to be even more incredible! These bartenders definitely raised the bar on expressing themselves via their exceptional mixology talents.

It was a lot to take in. And I was thankful for blogger Daniel Djang (now content manager for DiscoverLosAngeles.com) and bartender Zahra Bates (now a National Brand Ambassador for Courvoisier) for dreaming the whole thing up six years ago.

The List of Bartenders and Bars (at press time)

Aaron Polsky – Harvard & Stone

Adam Fournier – Faith & Flower

Alex Barbatsis – Esprit De Corps Hospitality

Alyson Iwamoto – Here’s Looking At You

Beau Du Bois – The Corner Door

Bethany Ham – Birds & Bees

Brittney Olsen – Hotel Figueroa

Chris Amirault – Otium

Christopher Day – Bar Tribute

Christina Russo – The Board Room

Chris Whelan – Hotel Figueroa

Dan McClary – Cannibal

Dan Sabo – Hotel Figueroa

Dee Ann Quinones – Commerson

Dustin Newsome – Bar Clacson, Slipper Clutch

Edwin Cruz – Winsome

Evan Charest – Patina Restaurant Group

Garrett McKechnie – Bar Mattachine

Greg Bryson – The Wallace

Jeremy Lake – Lost Property, Rosaline

Jodi Calderon – Normandie Club

John McGlothlin – Delilah

Kalani Ben – The Spare Room

Kim Stodel – Providence

Michael Lay – LONO

Peter Lloyd Jones – 1886

Ryan Wainwright – The Ponte

Sophia Oolie – The Freehand

Tobin Shea – Redbird

Yael Vengroff – The Spare Room 

More About Art Beyond the Glass

Art Beyond the Glass (ABTG) is a special event that showcases the artistic pursuits of top bartenders when they’re not behind the stick. At ABTG, everything from the cocktails to the art and music is created and performed by bartenders. Proceeds from every ABTG event are donated to a local arts-based nonprofit. The inaugural ABTG raised over $6000 for Inner-City Arts. In 2013, ABTG II raised $13,700 for Art Share L.A. ABTG III raised $18,000 for the Mural Conservancy to help restore one of the historic 1984 Olympic Freeway Murals. ABTG IV was the largest event to date and raised $20,000 for KCRW.

ABTG began, as many things do, with a conversation in a bar. In the fall of 2011, bartender Zahra Bates and writer Daniel Djang were at Sunny Spot in Venice, discussing how so many bartenders in Los Angeles express themselves creatively through painting, photography, music, and other arts. But at the time there wasn’t a proper showcase for bartenders to share their art. To fill this gap, Art Beyond the Glass was born.

By uniting the bar community, which gives back to the art community, Art Beyond the Glass helps to strengthen the community in which we live. 

www.ArtBeyondtheGlass.com.

Follow Art Beyond the Glass on:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtBeyondTheGlass | Twitter: @ABTGLA

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video, authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.