More than 45 bartenders and / or liquor industry professionals showed up on Santa Monica beach for a little touch football followed by a cocktail party featuring Grand Marnier cocktails and a very impressive spread of ribs, salads, desserts and, oh yeah, did I mention the cocktails?
Having just finished the B.A.R. training progra
m – which all 3 lead in one way or another – it was really cool to see them on the West Coast.Proving what cool chicks we have out here (far cooler than me) Christine D’Abrosca (bartender at Malo), the lovely Courtney (gf 
to our own bartender and bar-owner extraordinaire Eric Alperin) and one of the lovely ladies who work with Veev acai spirit whose name escapes me now. As for me, I sipped drinkies and cheered on the players – until it got too windy – and then I headed up to the Fairmont Hotel for the after-party. 
Smashes, crustas, and margarita-like drinks were a-flowing and we had bartenders from all corners of the city. It was one of those great afternoons that reminds me of just how cool the hospitality industry people are, and what a great city we live in.Rumor has it that we will invite down the hotshots from San Francisco, next year. An North-South intra-state rivalry sounds like the only next logical step for this annual event…Oh yeah, San Fran. You just got served!Watch the whole SLIDESHOW here... courtesy of fab photographer, Claire Barrett.