Jack Robertiello

I recently mentioned my skepticism about traveling bartenders — those who hop around the country for guest shots and work in multiple bars. My main complaint was on behalf of the customer, but following are two interesting twists to the trend that might soften me up:

The flood of seasonal menus is trickling in, as the promise of warming weather finally starts to bear fruit. From the West Coast to the East Coast, one of the hottest new cocktail service methods involves bottled cocktails — aged and carbonated!

Michael Simon, in charge of the bar at Chicago's recently opened Acadia, merges culinary with classic and turns out drinks worth investigating. What does it take to craft a cutting-edge culinary-influenced cocktail menu in the Windy City today? Let's find out.

What’s the point of guest bartending? I admire the camaraderie among barfolk, but I think it is an operational mistake. For every person a guest bartender entices, my bet is he/she risks alienating two more.

Specialization can work wonders when developing a bar menu. To that end, there are three ways to set yourself and your menu apart: Go long on a spirit, reinvent an abandoned drinking style or simply stick to the seasons.

A New York bartender now is serving his own gins in his new bar, The Shanty. It may be the dream scenario for many bartenders, but what does it actually take to make your own spirits and serve them in your bar? Let's ask Allen Katz.

After three days swilling and judging the world's best liquors during the Ultimate Spirits Challenge in New York City, I reflect on what's good, bad and indifferent.

Paul Pacult, whose most recent competition — the Ultimate Spirits Challenge — just released results, is the dean of American spirits evaluators, and his trio of competitions legitimately vie for leading contest honors. We check in on what happened at this year's event from behind the scenes:

Menu changes these days are driven by just about anything: seasonality, odd "holidays" and even the return of popular TV programs. Almost anything is a sufficient reason for a new drink, it seems.

Why the sudden interest in mezcal? Loving mezcal is nothing new — it’s just that those inspired by the rustic and smoky Mexican spirit have kept it mostly to themselves until now.