Legends of Bartending
Posted on July 25, 2004 by Ching under Life.
We were watching the Legends of Bartending World Championships last night of The Food Network. Gosh, these guys (and girls) do some pretty amazing things. I thought bartending was bartending. I had no idea there was such a thing as flair bartending. After you advance to the finals (only twelve finalists get to advance), the competition has four events or rounds: speed, accuracy, working flair and entertainment flair.
The reigning king of bartending, Christian Delpech won first place. His brother came in second and his girlfriend came in 11th or 12th. I can’t remember specifically, but the narrator made a big deal out of it considering it was her first competition.
You thought Tom Cruise was hot in Cocktail? Christian makes Tom look like a chump! Here’s a video showing some highlights of what these entertainment flair bartenders can do (it’s a large video file so it may take a while to download, you may want to skip it altogether if you’re on dialup). I don’t know if Christian is still bartending these days. I believe he’s retired. If he’s still bartending, I would sure like to see him perform in person. It’s very impressive stuff.
[update] If you go to the Flair Devils website, it says that he’s still working at Carnaval Court in Harrah’s Las Vegas. I don’t know if that info is outdated but it sure makes me wanna go! [/update]
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