Shaken Not Stirred was in true mobile bartending mode this Fourth of July weekend and did two parties in Orange County – a Fourth of July party in Newport Beach on Friday and a Santa Ana wedding on Saturday. I spent two days in San Diego on other business last week, then traveled to Newport Beach to bartend a Fourth of July party.
I was worried all week that getting in and out of Newport Beach was going to be a nightmare, but it was surprisingly easy. The hosts provided me a parking space in their garage. Everybody knows that beach parking on the Fourth of July is impossible. Most of the guests at the party were locals and arrived via beach cruiser. There were around 30 guests in attendance and it was a very nice low key party in a fantastic house.
I served three nice vintage cabernets – a 93’ Cakebread, a 98’ Chimney Rock, and a 96’ Von Strasser. I don’t usually serve a lot of red wine at summer parties, but this crowd couldn’t resist these three excellent wines. They had fun tasting all three and comparing. The Von Strasser proved to be the crowd favorite. By the end of the party all three bottles were empty. I served a few martinis and made Lemon Drops using fresh lemon juice from lemons in my back yard. The party abruptly ended as the guests left to watch the fireworks. I got top see most of the show as I was driving out of there.
I stayed at the Wyndam in Irvine and got a very good deal through Priceline
– where I named my own price. There is no reason to stay at the Motel 6, ever. I did a wedding the next day in the hills of Santa Ana. It is a very nice area off of the 55 freeway in the hills where I have never been before. There are some incredible houses up there and the wedding was held at one of them.
They had the tennis court converted into a super wedding venue for 200 guests. We had two bars set up, one above in the pool area, and another on the tennis court. Mia was helping me and she took the upstairs bar. There were at least 50 kids in attendance, so we spent plenty of time refilling sodas. Cadillac Margaritas were a big hit, and we also did Jaeger bombs, Patron shots, and Fireball shooters. The wedding planner abandoned ship halfway through along with three of the servers, as they ran out of food before everyone was served. Thankfully, she didn’t hire me and I was hired directly by the host. When I heard how much money they had paid her, I was thinking I should become a wedding planner. A friend explained to me why that would not be a good idea and I quickly came back to reality.
Next weekend I have another big wedding to do in Santa Barbara and I am taking my son, Willie to help me. I have several more weddings booked during the rest of the summer all over Southern California, and a few birthday parties. It has been a great summer for Shaken Not Stirred.
Shaken Not Stirred in LA 