L’Abattoir head bartender Katie Ingram talks cocktails with Kelsey Klassen.
How long have you been bartending?
I have been bartending a little over a year and a half.”
How long have you worked at L’Abattoir? Where were you before that?
I have been at L’Abattoir for seven months now. Before that I was working at UVA Wine + Cocktail Bar for a year and a half. UVA was a great experience because we had to learn how to work the room before we could work the bar. A lot of people just want to bartend and, at the end of the day, that’s not what we do. We are in service and hospitality.
What drew you to the restaurant?
L’Abattoir is a well-oiled machine. It is fast paced, challenging and a lot of fun. The team has always been known for their incredible service standards and I wanted to learn from them. L’Abattoir is helping me to control and strengthen all of my abilities working in hospitality. From perfecting service standards, to learning all that I can about wine from all of the Somms that we have on the floor! Like I said, we have an incredible team to learn from and work with.
What are some milestones or awards you have achieved?
Last year I won the Jameson Barrelman Battle and won a trip to Ireland to visit the distillery and meet over 150 bartenders from around the world. I won the Mezcal competition at the Tequila Expo last year and travelled to Oaxaca to learn about Mezcal production with Kevin Brownlee and Grant Sceney. This is the second year that I have been a regional finalist for the Diageo World Class Competition. I am also a ‘Bitter Babe’ with Bittered Sling bitters alongside Lauren Mote, Jonathan Chovancek, Sabrine Dhaliwal and many talented others.
What was the person, place or thing that inspired your career?
It’s a weird thing when you are continuously inspired by everything around you, that you can’t really pinpoint the one lightbulb that keeps flickering in your head. I remember sitting at a bar and watching the bartender across from me do these insane pours, shakes and stirs. Creating art by simply putting ingredients together. Finding balance with acid, sugar or bitters. Watching their thought process as they create and discover. The following day, I’m pretty sure I went to work and tasted everything that we had on the back bar, just to know what it tasted like. And from then on, I was hooked. I love creating things, being inspired by a story, ingredient, spirit, or emotion. Coming from a theatre background as well, I craved performance. I needed an outlet for my personality, and bartending was it. You talk to new people, maybe see some familiar faces and create relationships with the person across from you. It really is the best job.
Best piece of bartending advice you’ve ever received:
Someone is always watching.
Strangest request you’ve had from a customer:
A virgin Negroni (alcohol-free Negroni).
If you were a cocktail ingredient, you’d be:
Blanco tequila.
At the end of the night, you pour yourself:
A beer or Negroni.
Person you’d most like to see taking a seat at your bar:
Justin Trudeau. I’d probably just melt instead of actually doing anything.
Your bartending pump-up song:
Anything by Beyoncé.
Proudest accomplishment behind the bar:
Releasing the summer cocktail list!
Coolest ingredient you’re playing with this season:
Whatever is in season and fresh! Right now, I’m obsessed with strawberries and elderflower… But mushrooms like chanterelles are coming back in season and I can’t wait to get my hands on some for a housemade liqueur, or infusion.
Your secret bartending weapon (could be a tool, a tip, a spirit):
Bittered Sling bitters!! Always! They use all organic, natural, and locally sourced herbs, spices, botanicals, etc. to create an incredibly diverse portfolio of cocktail bitters and culinary extracts. I literally put it on everything. Bartending can also extend into the kitchen, like using Moondog, their smoky, earthy and spicy bitters in a beef stock or gravy. Or even curing fish with Cascade Celery bitters and some Aquavit.
What is a signature of yours? What makes something a Katie Ingram cocktail?
My cocktails tend to tell a story, kind of like a ‘choose your own adventure’ book. You tell me certain things about what you like to drink, what you don’t like, the last thing you had, and I take it from there. Any cocktail should tell a story from the presentation, the aromatics, the garnish and the finish. It should make you think about it a lot more than just an alcoholic beverage. Maybe it reminds you of something, or tastes like something you’ve never had before, or tastes like something that you can’t quite describe yet… I would like to think that my cocktails are adventurous but can be safe, it all depends on what adventure you choose…
What’s something that surprises people about you?
Cocktail competitions make me incredibly nervous and excited. Half of the time I can’t choose an emotion so I just start sweating. It’s a super fun time.
Tell us a bartending/industry joke, if you know one:
Watch out for Joanne!
Tell us a pro tip about enjoying a night at L’Abattoir:
Hit up Happy Hour! Best deals on drinks with a $7 feature cocktail, $6 red or white wine, $5 beer and almost all starters are 50 per cent off. After you’ve had some appetizers, you cannot skip out on your main course! Share one with your friend and dive into our incredible wine list. Don’t know what you want? We can definitely help you to figure that out.
What is the coolest thing about being a bartender?
It’s the moment right before service when everyone is scrambling to complete every final detail to make sure that everything is perfect before the windows and doors are open.
If you weren’t a bartender, what is your parallel life career?
I probably would have never stopped acting, or gone into sales.
What’s the story behind the Avocado Gimlet?
It actually comes from the previous bar manager, Shaun Layton. To my understanding, Shaun really wanted to use avocados in a cocktail. He’d heard about it in Mexico City and decided to try it out for himself. He paired it with other savoury ingredients, like gin, olive and rosemary, and the rest is history! It is probably the healthiest cocktail I have ever had. And it’s amazing. If you haven’t had one yet, you really should come down and get one.
For L’Abattoir’s Avocado Gimlet Recipe, click here.
share:
Be the first to comment