Friday Question of the Day – Who’s the Best Bartender in the City?

Last week when Town & Country closed in the Mayflower Hotel (1127 Connecticut Avenue NW) I wanted to stop by to snap a photo before construction began (it’ll become a Pink clothing store which will move from it’s current location in the hotel.) Anyway, I couldn’t help but notice the faded sign on the outside featuring Sam the bartender. The sign says in part, “…Washington’s most famous bartender…” so it got me thinking about famous bartenders or at least bartenders I like in DC.

And since I’m also horrible with names you can answer the question – “the guy with glasses from Room 11 who used to work at Temperance Hall.” I actually do remember that name – Dan Searing (part owner of Room 11 in Columbia Heights) is one of my favorites. I like Dan because I can go in and say I feel like something with gin and he’ll fix up an amazing concoction that I’ve never tried before. It also helps that he’s a really nice guy.

I was just having a conversation the other night when I said that despite all the bells and whistles of a new bar, for me, what makes or breaks a bar is quite simply the quality of the bartender.

I suppose there can be two elements – fixing drinks and personality. So for the FQotD – who’s your favorite bartender (and what bar do they work at) in the city?