The Bar: A Spirited Guide to Cocktail Alchemy. This item is unavailable.The Bar: A Spirited Guide to Cocktail Alchemy

In a dynamic and fun-to-read format, THE BAR comprehensively profiles the hundreds of varieties of spirits essential to any bartender's repertoire. Restaurateur Olivier Said and food writer James Mellgren outline the historical background of each spirit, how it is produced, and how best to enjoy it. This bar book, however, is not just a compilation of recipes but an erudite romp through the history of spirits, from the perspective of two veteran bartenders who have tended bar in more than 12 establishments, spanning seven cities in three countries between them. THE BAR will educate, inspire, and amuse both professional and home bartenders who want to better understand the alchemy and the traditions behind their favorite cocktails.

OLIVIER SAID is co-author, with James Mellgren, of THE BAR and CESAR, which was named one of the Top 10 Cookbooks of 2003 by Food & Wine magazine. Currently, he and Mellgren are co-writing a quarterly column in the national publication Trump Magazine, focusing on cocktails and libations. A fifth-generation restaurateur from France, Said is a former managing partner in César, located next door to Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, and owner of Texas Coyote, a popular restaurant and nightclub in Paris. Said recently opened the upscale Kitchen on Fire cooking school in Berkeley.
JAMES MELLGREN is co-author, with Olivier Said, of THE BAR and CESAR, which was named one of the Top 10 Cookbooks of 2003 by Food & Wine magazine. Currently, he and Said are co-writing a quarterly column in the national publication Trump Magazine, focusing on cocktails and libations. Mellgren is the senior editor of one of the industry's leading trade publications, The Gourmet Retailer. He began his career in New York as the manager of Turpan Sanders in Soho, then spent a decade as a manager for Dean & DeLuca, for which he traveled extensively in Europe. He lives in Berkeley, California.