PopFestKC ... the psudo-acronym for the cocktail and culture explosion that has just now cleared the air finally wrapped up last Monday with an epic gala (Benefiting KCPT) saluting all of the events, personalities, venues and participants in the 10-day long festival!
But the night before (and many nights before that) the spirits were flowing and showing why KC is the place to be! The EAT - Entertaining and Training team plus The Lab staff partnered to shoot, post, tweet and publicize The PopFestKC Bartending Competition that featured 12 of the country's best mixologists (vests and hats were not mandatory but were welcomed) in a showdown that thrilled the nearly 200 guests for more than 2 hours!
See all the Facebook excitement at: https://www.facebook.com/PoPFestKC
See all the Twitter excitement at: https://twitter.com/PoPFestKC
Contestants had to apply/enter the competition by qualifying (See full list of requirements/rules at http://www.popfestkc.com/competitions/paris-of-the-plains-bartending-competition/rules/). They had to confirm they were comfortable preparing any of the top 26 classic cocktails listed here (Compliments of BarSmarts): http://www.popfestkc.com/competitions/paris-of-the-plains-bartending-competition/top26/. And then they had to be selected as one of the top 12 finalists.
Those finalists included:
And the winner(s) is:
1st - Chris Conaster / Justus Drugstore, A Restaurant (Smithville, MO)
2nd - Jenn Tossato / The Rieger / Manifesto (KC, MO)
3rd - Alberto Santoro / Extra Virgin (KC, MO)
Fan Favorites:
Matt Seiter / Sanctuaria (St. Louis, MO)
Judges included:
- Doug Frost MS, MW: All-around wine, spirits and beverage guru! More at DougFrost.com (@winedogboy)
- Steve Olson: aka Wine Geek! More at akawinegeek.com (@akawinegeek)
- Chris Patino: Manager of Trade Education at Pernod Ricard (@NYCocktail)
- Celina Tio: James Beard Award-winning chef, Iron Chef and Top Chef Masters competitor and owner of KC's Julian! More at CelinaTio.com! (@celinatio)
See a gaggle of pictures from that night at: http://bit.ly/popfestkc2012
Cheers to Brandon Cummins, Ryan Maybee and Doug Frost on another amazing week showing the best of the best in cocktail culture (& KC too!)
