Shaking and stirring her way to the top

Cover Story

A local mixologist seeks national recognition

July 21, 2011|By Christopher Muther, Globe Staff

Bartender Misty Kalkofen is a blur of dark-rimmed Tina Fey glasses, crisp white shirt, and tattoos on a recent Saturday night at the Fort Point watering hole Drink. With a crowd jostling for attention and a line beginning to congregate on the sidewalk outside, Kalkofen is juggling triple duty as bartender, best friend, and mind reader. The kicker is that she is balancing these tasks with an impossibly amiable demeanor.

Despite dealing with this level of stress regularly, the 39-year-old Somerville resident will encounter one of her biggest challenges this week when she faces well-respected competition for the prestigious American Bartender of the Year Award on July 23 at Tales of the Cocktail, the country’s largest cocktail conference. The event, which drew more than 18,000 industry professionals and enthusiastic tipplers last year, takes place annually in New Orleans. Drink was also nominated as best American cocktail bar.

“There are no shot girls, and it’s not a five-day bar crawl,’’ says Paul Tuennerman, chief operations officer of Tales of the Cocktail. “The nominees for American Bartender of the Year are chosen by an international committee of their peers. Then the committee has to go to the bar and meet with the bartender. I always say it’s huge if you get nominated, and if you win it’s just unbelievable.’’

Although the prize is not substantial (a high-end glass plate), Tuennerman says that this kind of honor would go far in cementing Boston’s reputation as an important city for mixology.

“You live in a great city for cocktails,’’ he says. “You don’t have the sheer number of places as New York or Chicago, but the quality is high. You’ve got a good core of folks and establishments there that are creating a lot of excitement around cocktails.’’

Despite her extensive training and accolades, the chatty Kalkofen was still surprised by the honor.

“I was in Venice when I found out about the nomination,’’ Kalkofen recalls over a beer on a quiet afternoon at the Plough and Stars in Cambridge. “And when I heard, I thought, ‘I’m going to throw up.’ That was my first instinct, I was so amazed.’’

Drink is unique in Boston because it has no cocktail menu. There are no liquor bottles on display. Kalkofen doesn’t simply pull drafts from the tap and make chit chat. She quizzes patrons on likes and dislikes, all the while keeping her sweating silver cocktail shaker in motion.

Regulars at Drink often decide on a libation after they’ve consulted with a bartender. They tick off favorite varieties of spirits, and then wait for a masterpiece to materialize in front of them in period-appropriate barware. Kalkofen rarely disappoints.