Results tagged: Manhattan Cocktail Classic

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic, New York City's first ever multi-day event celebrating the history, contemporary culture, and artful craft of the cocktail will take place on October 3rd and 4th. Part festival, part fête, part conference, part cocktail party, the event brings together the unparalleled talents and opportunities of the bars, bartenders, and restaurants of our great city for two days of activities, both educational and celebratory in nature, championing the common ideals of authenticity, equality, sustainability, service, and pleasure. Laren Spirer spoke with cocktail historian Dave Wondrich to learn about what's in store for the event.

Laren Spirer: How did you get involved in the Manhattan Cocktail Classic?

Dave Wondrich: As soon as I heard about it, it was clear that it was something that I was interested in. This was back when Lesley, our fearless leader, floated the idea over a year ago. It sounded like fun and we had a "shoot-the-breeze" session about it and came up with some ideas for a title and so forth. We've been in the planning stage for a while so it's good to see it coming to fruition.

Why do you think the time was ripe to bring a cocktail event to New York?

New Yorkers have long believed that our fair city is the center of the universe. We've got arts, culture, amazing restaurants and some of the most groundbreaking and influential cocktail bars in the world. Why, then, hasn't there been a groundbreaking and influential cocktail event here? Several industry leaders were wondering the same thing, so they put together the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, a multi-day celebration/conference/festival, scheduled to take place during World Cocktail Week in May 2010. But since New Yorkers are also dreadfully impatient, they're bringing us a preview on October 3rd and 4th.

The preview weekend is jam-packed with seminars, intimate events at the city's best bars, a pop-up bar at the Astor Center with rotating guest bartenders, and a gala event Sunday night. Tickets for individual seminars are on sale now. A full listing of seminars follows after the jump.