Category Archives: Life on a Cocktail Napkin

THE SCREAMING VIKING (barroom classics)

Drinks … maybe as many as one-hundred-thousand and counting. “How do you do it?” a young coed asks as I frantically work behind the bar. “How do you remember all the drinks?” With the place packed and me struggling to … Continue reading

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JOHNNY D’S WILL BE CLOSING …

Sad news in the Boston area music world. Owner Carla DeLellis announced last weekend that the legendary nightclub Johnny D’s will be closing. Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou Harris and Bruce Cockburn once shared the billing at Johnny D’s … all … Continue reading

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TAXES, RESTAURANT TIPS, and the filthy rich

(Just finished a big project and will be back next week with new stories. In the meantime, here’s a repost …this issue keeps coming  up.) We’re taking a break today from our usual bar stories.  Something has been bugging me … Continue reading

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AN OWNER’S FOLLY (The king and the tide)

(One more bar post involving an Aesop’s fable . . . I can’t help it, those old scribes knew what they were talking about.) I’ve known Jake for years. I trained him as a bartender when he was a few … Continue reading

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THE MIDAS TOUCH

(Here’s something from bartending at The Lark Tavern in Albany NY.) “Johnny Walker Black, no ice, water on the side.” The guy was back again, as pompous as ever. He owned a popular bar on the outskirts of Albany, and … Continue reading

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