Editor’s Pick: Best Bartender

Bartender Scott Perry. Photo

Scott Perry – There are two kinds of bartenders: good and evil. Each has their advantages.

The evil bartender keeps you waiting, makes sloppy drinks, is dissolute, and generally helps dissuade you from following his or her wayward path because your drinking experience becomes so sullied and unenjoyable that you are discouraged from hanging out at bars and perhaps even drink itself.

A good bartender is a knight in shining armor. He or she is attentive, listens, is noble, and provides secret elixirs that pick up a weary soul in times of trouble.

Scott Perry, the longtime bartender at Café Boogaloo who now runs the bar at Charlie’s: An Italian New York Joint in Redondo Beach, is the very best of the good bartenders. Nowhere does the human drama unfold like a in a bar, and Perry, an actor, is well prepared for the nightly theater. Perry is low-key about it. He says simply that a bartender must have product knowledge, attentiveness, and an ability to listen.

“You’ve got to know the product,” he said. “And I wouldn’t say I’m a great conversationalist, but you’ve got to know a little bit about a lot of things to engage different people.”

In all seriousness, bartending is one of the great time-honored callings. There are a few select professions that are spiritual in nature: priests, poets, hairdressers, sometimes singers, occasionally taxi drivers, and very occasionally psychiatrists. A good bartender is the soul of a bar. Perry is not only capable of creating signature, special drinks –in his research, Perry rediscovered Al Capone’s favorite drink, the Buffalo Negra (a bourbon drink that includes balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, and soda) – but also tending to the varied needs of his flock.

“It’s a social job,” Perry said. “You are out with people as you work.”

Best of the Beach logoIf the Dude abides, a good bartender presides. And when Scott Perry is behind the bar, justice prevails. He brings certain Zen stoicism the proceedings. His cool, calm, and collectedness – and his ability to mix a great drink or quietly guide a customer to just the right beer or wine, palate-wise – has attracted a following of loyal patrons who have followed him from his early days at H2O in Manhattan almost two decades ago.

Michelle Crispin is one of those customers.

“He’s seriously the best bartender I’ve ever experienced,” said Crispin. “Not only does he an astounding memory for his customers’ favorite poison, he comes across as genuinely happy with his profession and was as passionate about the music at Cafe’ Boogaloo as  [owner] Steve Roberts was, independently sending out his own e-mail blasts to encourage patrons to attend particular shows that had moved him.”

“He’s a rock star behind the bar,” Crispin added.

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