How to: Hospitality with Sother Teague of Amor y Amargo

Sother Teague of the great East Village NYC bar Amor y Amargohas a very specific and wonderful approach to hospitality.  During the Tampa Repeal Day Conference,Sother gave a great talk about the steps of service that are followed whenpeople come into his bar.  Ithought it was a really great seminar and something that everybody in theindustry could learn from.  Hecalled the seminar “The Psychology of the Room.  How to use Inherent Human Behavior to Guide People ThroughTheir Time in Your Space”.

I asked Sother if he would be a guest on the BartenderJourney Podcast to talk about his great bar in Manhattan, and also about thegreat talk that he gave in Tampa.

Listen with the audio player on this page or

·      On the Bartender Journey web site

·      Subscribe on iTunes

·      Listen on Stitcher Radio

·      Subscribe on Android

Sother’s philosophy on service is designed to provide thebest possible experience for his guests. As he says “We don’t sell the drinks, the ice, the bitters.  All that stuff comes free with theHospitality”.

Book of the Week:

How To Win Friends andInfluence People by Dale Carnegie. Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to winpeople to your way of thinking, and the nine ways to change people withoutarousing resentment.

Also try the updated How toWin Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age.

Cocktail of the Week:

Sharpie Mustache. Created by Chris Elford during his tenure at Amor y Amargo.

·     3/4 ounce Meletti Amaro

·     3/4 ounce Bonal Gentiane Quina

·     3/4 ounce London dry gin (AyA uses Beefeater)

·     3/4 ounce Overproof rye whiskey (AyA uses Rittenhouse100°)

·     2 dashes Bittermens Tiki Bitters

Stir over plenty of ice to dilute and chill. Strain into achilled glass. Express the oil from an orange twist over the top of the drinkand drop in to garnish.

Toast of the Week:

Here’s to the nights that become memories, the friends thatbecome family, and the dreams that become reality.