Participating Mixologists
Taste of the Nation Philadelphia introduces a new feature this year with specialty cocktails crafted by Tad Carducci of the Tippling Bros. and the mixologists at APO Bar + Lounge, as well as guest bartenders Gina Chersevani, Misty Kalkofen and Michael Waterhouse, and Danny Valdez (see bios below). Thank you to all of our generous spirit sponsors and these superb mixologists for donating their time and talent to help us end childhood hunger.
Guest Mixologists
APO Bar + Lounge
Mixologist Bios
Tad Carducci
Tad Carducci is a lifelong bartender, award-winning mixologist and general bon vivant, with over twenty years experience in the hospitality industry. He is one half of the dynamic duo known as the Tippling Bros., a New York based beverage consultancy dedicated to "spirituous advisement and raising of the bar." He has won several major national cocktail competitions and has judged, organized or emceed a few to boot. As well as consulting, Mr. Carducci is involved with the Mercadito Restaurant group and Philadelphia's Apothecary Bar and Lounge, is a national brand ambassador for Averna Amaro and is a member of the BarSmarts national training team.
His cocktails have appeared in Food and Wine Magazine, NY Times, NY Post, Imbibe Magazine, W Magazine, Cheers and many other publications, as well as on sirius radio, CW 11 morning news and other media. He has contributed articles to Sante Magazine and theBoozehound.com. Tad is very proud to say he is a top-level graduate of the inaugural Beverage Alcohol Resource course and has earned certificates from both the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. He is honored to be a charter member of the New York Chapter of the u.s.b.g.
Tad lives in a little bungalow in the Garden State with his wife Joanne and dog Lucy. He is convinced that he hung out with Ernest Hemingway in his last go round, and if he had it to do over again, would be a jazz crooner or professional lobsterman. He's addicted to hot dogs and the Discovery Channel, plays guitar very badly and drives way too fast.
Misty KalkofenMisty Kalkofen is one of Boston's most highly regarded mixologists. Before joining the team at Drink, Barbara Lynch's new cocktail bar in Fort Point, she spent two years as bar manager at Green Street in Cambridge, where her cocktail program emphasized classic drinks and proper technique. She is President and founder of the city's first and only women's classic cocktail society, LUPEC Boston (a local chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktail), and a founding member of The Jack Rose Society.
Kalkofen first stepped behind the bar while studying theology at Harvard Divinity School. She credits local music legend Brother Cleve with cementing her interest in classic cocktails the day he "presented her with a bottle of Old Overholt rye and dubbed her his protege."
Upon completing her degree in 1998 Kalkofen realized what excited her most about the Bible was the part where Jesus turns water into wine. Shortly thereafter Kalkofen joined the opening staff of the B-Side Lounge, the first bar in the city to focus on classic cocktails and vintage spirits at a time when Cosmopolitans and Sour Apple Martinis ruled. Kalkofen has spent the past ten years honing her craft and her palate, and has earned a reputation as one of Boston's foremost authorities on cocktail history and culture.
Kalkofen's cocktail recipes have been excerpted in magazines and blogs across the country, including Wine & Spirits, Salon.com, Imbibe Magazine, Bon Appetit and The Cocktail Chronicles. Kalkofen has received numerous accolades from local media, and has been featured in Boston Magazine, The Boston Globe, Stuff@Night, and The Improper Bostonian, among others.
Kalkofen has been featured as a cocktail expert on regional radio shows and was a featured mixologist at the 2009 James Beard Awards. Her writing on cocktails and women's history can be found on the LUPEC Boston blog.
Danny ValdezDanny Valdez is a bartender in a city steeped in cocktail culture. The seemingly easy task in New Orleans has been anything but that. We inherited a hurricane mix, hand grenade kinda town. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of a chosen few the craft has been revived and is spreading to even the most unlikely people and uncommon places.
Throughout the years Danny has worked at all capacities at some of the most well known New Orleans restaurant and bars. After Katrina he helped reopen the multiple James Beard award winning Commander's Palace. There he helmed the city's first high volume quality cocktail program using fresh juices, house made bitters, espumas, Falernums and infusions. It was also there that Ti Martin instilled discipline and fueled his ambition by introducing the work ethic that is one of the main reasons for Commander's success. During his tenure at Commander's Palace his accolades include making drinks for presidents governors, mayors, and receiving a scholarship to B.A.R. (Beverage Alcohol Resource) through the Museum of the American Cocktail. This led to his being the only person in New Orleans to take and successfully pass the rigorous B.A.R Ready certification course. In the spring of 2009 he embarked on the B.A.R. Masters program. His thesis will be on Japanese whiskey from fermentation to distillation and the drinking culture associated with it.
Humble and methodical, day after day he continues honing his trade. In 2008 he started Cocktailian Nola with Richard Gomez. The Focus being on education, consulting, and training on a local and national level. Priority is and always will be with his city. Through weekly meetings with the creative driving minds behind the best cocktails in New Orleans, his focus remains razor sharp. Guidance has also come through Aka Wine Geek and the partners at B.A.R. He believes that as long as there are people out there who share the same passion for making and drinking great cocktails he's in for the ride of his life.
Gina ChersevaniGina Chersevani grew up in the kitchens of New York thanks to her father, a Northern Italian chef. A childhood spent playing with pizza dough and exposed her to local and fresh ingredients prepared Chersevani well for her entry into the food and beverage world.
Chersevani moved to the DC metro area when she enrolled at the University of Maryland. While in college, she began bartending, and after graduating with a B.A. in psychology and fine arts, she landed her first martini-making gig at Penang in the District.
As Chersevani began to earn her chops in the local beverage community, her skills were in high demand. Acclaimed chef and fellow New Yorker Jamie Leeds tapped Chersevani to help design the beverage program at 15 Ria. Chersevani also consulted with Poste Moderne Brasserie in the illustrious Hotel Monaco, designing an imaginative cocktail menu that secured her reputation in Washington.
2006, Ashok Bajaj hired Chersevani as his master mixologist for Rasika, Penn Quarter's critically acclaimed modern Indian restaurant, where she began experimenting with exotic ingredients like saffron, cloves and lotus among others. Chersevani's creative cocktails have landed her mentions in prominent publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
In 2008, Chersevani found herself crossing the Potomac to assume the role of the Bar Chef for the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, stationed primarily at the group's renowned gastropub, EatBar and upscale neighborhood restaurant, Tallula. In this post, Chersevani creates exceptional and unusual cocktails, from the refreshing Gnome's Water with English cucumber and gin, to the sinful St. Pete's Denial with vodka, Godiva white and blue cheese.
Chersevani's innovative libations at EatBar and Tallula have earned her quite a following, not to mention raves in Wine Enthusiast, DC magazine and the Washingtonian. She has also won numerous awards and distinctions, including being named one of The Beverage Journal's "10 Mixologists to Watch" for 2008, winning Absolut Vodka's "Best Martini" competition in the spring of 2008, and prevailing in the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington's contest for the "Official RAMMY Cocktail" of 2008 and 2009.
In 2009, Chersevani began the newest and potentially most exciting chapter of her career: exciting culinary-beverage collaboration with Chef Peter Smith. Taking the reigns of the beverage program at Smith's PS7's Restaurant, she and the chef constantly play in tandem the fascinating relationship between beverage and food, ignoring the traditional paths of proteins and wines. Instead, they riff like jazz musicians on such eclectic themes as herbs, exotic fruits, wild game, obscure and forgotten liquors, and the openness of the imaginations of their lucky audience.
Michael WaterhouseBefore starting Drink Tank, Michael Waterhouse served as Beverage Director for The Myriad Restaurant Group ( Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Montrachet) one of the largest restaurant and consulting companies in New York. Michael designed, set-up and implemented the beverage programs for the New York based group. He also consulted on the opening of over thirty locations, both at home and abroad including such restaurants as Nobu, (NY, Las Vegas, London), Reebok Sports Clubs, W Hotels (NY, Seattle, San Francisco), and Interstate Hotels (Pittsburgh, Boston, Memphis).
From 1997-1999, both Allied Domecq Sprits and United Distillers contracted Michael to educate consumers and restaurant employee on a variety of spirits including Makers Mark and Johnny Walkers brands.
After spending ten-years with the Myriad Restaurant Group, Michael formed Drink Tank with partner John Mautone. Drink Tank's first project was Dylan Prime. Michael continues to consult for several liquor importers.
Michael Waterhouse has appeared on Weekend Today, The Food Network, Fox 5 and the WB 11 and has been quoted in many publications including, Time Magazine, New York Times, New York Post, Stuff Magazine, Nations Restaurant News, Razor Magazine and Cosmopolitan.
Most recently, Michael has appeared on the fine living special Raising the Bar where he displayed and discussed the history surrounding his 2,000-piece antique barware collection. In 2007, Michael was awarded Spirits Professional of the Year from Sante Magazine.
