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"  Carlo Splendorini, 27, BartenderMichael Mina San Francisco I worked in London, at Nobu, and I came to San Francisco on vacation, but after a couple days I gave my notice in London. I didn&amp;#039;t have a job lined up, so it was scary \u2014 but it ended up being the best decision I&amp;#039;ve made in my life. I&amp;#039;ve lived here for four years. People are more reserved in London. San Francisco is a great cocktail city; there are so many great bars here. It&amp;#039;s not like New York or London. It&amp;#039;s more intimate. When something&amp;#039;s special in San Francisco, it gets noticed. Talking to the clientele is a skill that you either have or you don&amp;#039;t have. There&amp;#039;s no teaching that. [Chef] Michael Mina came in to a restaurant I was working at. I didn&amp;#039;t know who he was. The kitchen had just closed, but they told me, &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s Michael Mina. The kitchen is now open.&amp;quot; He&amp;#039;s very cool. Always so happy. He says &amp;quot;hi&amp;quot; to everyone from the minute he walks in the door to the minute he leaves. But when you work at his restaurants, you&amp;#039;ve got to be spot on... There&amp;#039;s a high expectation. If you mess up, you go. I&amp;#039;m a little bit of a control freak. I have to be behind the bar, I have to be aware of everything that&amp;#039;s going on. I like everything a certain way, but I also try to have fun with myself. The most underappreciated bottle behind the bar is Bols Genever. It&amp;#039;s a Dutch gin originally made in the 1500s. It&amp;#039;s malty, because it&amp;#039;s made in a way similar to whiskey, and it smells like grappa or tequila. It tastes like a malty grappa, but it&amp;#039;s more subtle. In Italy we drink wine and coffee. Italy&amp;#039;s not so into cocktails. People in San Francisco love Fernet Branca. But I&amp;#039;m sick of it. I come from Italy \u2014 I&amp;#039;ve been drinking Fernet Branca all my life. Once, this lady snapped at me and said, &amp;quot;Listen very carefully. Here&amp;#039;s what I want: tequila, lime, and Cointreau. Shake it very well, and then put it on the rocks.&amp;quot; I said, &amp;quot;So you want a margarita?&amp;quot; She said, &amp;quot;No, I want what I ordered!&amp;quot; PLUS: Read More Bartender Wisdom on Eat Like a Man &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/bars/interviews/a10694/michael-mina-bartender-080411/>