Behind the bar

There are three kinds of professionals people trust enough to open up and share their dark secrets with your psychiatrist,your hair-dresser and the bartender.

There are three kinds of professionals people trust enough to open up and share their dark secrets with your psychiatrist,your hair-dresser and the bartender. The statement,which can be made only with an experience,comes from a French bartender Eric Fossard,who has been into the profession of bartending for almost two decades now. He was in Pune to conduct a workshop with bartenders in the city,that was held at the Courtyard By Marriott on weekend.

Currently based in Southern France,Fossard began his career in 1994,in Paris. Most of the people I know in the industry,including myself,didnt plan to become a bartender but just stumbled on to it, he says. Fossard credits much of his learning to the opportunities and the exposure he received in the UK and then France. While in London,Fossard worked at some upscale restaurants such as Montes,Che and Cecconis,restaurants that are associated with famous names like Jamie Oliver. On returning to France,he joined Pernod Ricard,an internationally renowned French company that produces distilled beverages. Working with the Ricard group,he was instrumental in the foundation of International Bar Business School and also in the restoration of the Exposition Universelle Des Vins & Spiritueux,a wine and spirits museum.

Bartending,Fossard says,is an addictive job. Explaining it further,he says,When youre behind the bar,you feel in control of the events and the conversation. You meet different people and one gets to hear some interesting stories. Having experienced that,he says that the way movies project bartenders,a person one can talk to just about anything,is true in real life. A good bartender makes fine conversation with people and is adept at reading body language, he adds further. Besides,he says that there are two must-haves for a person to become a successful bartender – passion and curiosity.

Fossard is immensely excited about the India Bar Show in Delhi,the first of its kind in the country. Scheduled for October 26 and 27 this year,the show will not only include an exhibition of different wines and spirits but will also include events like drink tastings and mixing competitions. Besides,it will enable the bartenders across the country to interact with each other, he adds.

After Pune,Fossard will conduct similar workshops in Delhi,Kolkata and Bengaluru. Through these workshops,Fossard hopes to share his passion and knowledge about the business with other bartenders in the country. Having trained professionals in the past through his workshops,he says that besides making the bartenders technically sound and developing their palate,skills and creativity with mixing cocktails,the workshop builds other soft skills that help the bartender in keeping the patrons engaged.

If given an opportunity to change one thing in the Indian bartending industry,Fossard says that he would like to build a community for bartenders in the country. “Countries all over the world have these communities which help the bartenders share their ideas and passion with each other and grow from it. If you’re only experimenting on your own,no one will ever come to know what you are doing. But when you share your knowledge,there is a sense of achievement,” he says.

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Behind the bar

There are three kinds of professionals people trust enough to open up and share their dark secrets with  your psychiatrist,your hair-dresser and the bartender.

There are three kinds of professionals people trust enough to open up and share their dark secrets with your psychiatrist,your hair-dresser and the bartender.