The Private Bartender


I’m a private, freelance bartender. This is how I’ve been rolling in L.A. since 2002, shortly after
I left the famous, yet private Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake. I average about 150-170 gigs
a year. That’s plenty enough for me.

After 20 years, since 1982, I’d been bartending in the various venues one could imagine; bars,
restaurants, clubs, hotels, etc. But I needed to get out of that cycle of uncertainty, still work
professionally, and avoid punching a clock if at all possible.

So I took the freelance/on-call route and started to establish myself with agencies, staffers,
caterers, spirit brands, word-of-mouth, and the slow building of my own private clientel. This
included still getting called into clubs and other venues I had been connected with for many
years, where they preferred to have an on-call bartender available, for their security reasons.

Suits me just fine. I create my own schedule, and flexibility for time off, if I choose. 8 more
years and over 1200 gigs later, one could say I’m probably LA’s #1 Private Bartender. It’s
been an interesting journey, and it continues. You work for/with a lot of people in many
different and sometimes, mystery situations. But it’s fresh, new and challenging, with always
something else to learn.

I’ve worked all over the place in this big city, much more than most and too many places to
mention, gaining knowledge and experiences along the way. You go to the people instead of
them coming to you. It’s also grown into the need for me to book other bartenders on gigs that
come in when I’m working a gig somewhere else on that same date, so I never lose a client.

I love working new crowds and seeing new people. It’s a big city, and it’s a good idea to take
advantage of this way of working if there’s enough to support you, and it grows. And you know
going in that it’ll be busy at the bar every time. No slow nights or shifts, and I know what my
pay is, or the fee I setup in advance. So I gear up and rock !

I have a custom bar kit I’ve built up over years, so I always have what I need on-hand. No
relying on others. I have a custom portable bar and back bar that I use on occasion when
clients have the need. I have word docs of entire dry and wet stock beverage lists for various
size parties that I can email to any clients to assist them with everything they would like to have
at the bar, available for their guests.

I’ve bartended in some of the most beautiful homes in Los Angeles, from down in the valley
to high in the hills, Hollywood and downtown, to right off the beach of the Pacific Ocean.
Incredible places I would have never experienced otherwise. With all of this, I gain more
exposure in town, and build a good reputation for professional service on the move.

Ultimately, this flexibility in my schedule allows me to focus and work on the production of my
various bar projects, products, articles, stories and features that I enjoy creating and writing
on my off days, for the industry, and maybe more importantly, for the everyday consumer and
shopper to have easier access and more understanding of a variety of current and popular
cocktail/mixology knowledge with-out having to go into a thousand bars, or cracking open
generalized drink books, not knowing quite where to begin.

It’s a win-win for me !


KB
Blood Orange Martini