Fillmore – Shaken Not Stirred in LA

I have been so busy doing the actual work or running a bartending service, I have neglected doing my blog posts. Shaken Not Stirred has provided bartending services at events in Fillmore, San Diego, Bermuda Dunes, Valley Village, and Studio City over the past two weeks. The events included a wedding, a corporate event, a bachelorette party, and two birthday parties. I did some traveling and two of the events were within 10 minutes of my house.

Fillmore Wedding

I have done a couple of events in the town of Fillmore in Ventura County. It is always nice going out there and it is a small town of 14,000 people that is not on any major freeway. The wedding was held at the City Hall, just next to the old train station in the center of town. It was a perfect day for a wedding, and the they had the city hall decorated real nice.

I set up my portable bar on the side of the courtyard and served drinks for approximately 150 people. The host rented a margarita machine, which I had never used before. It seemed easy enough, but it presented many problems. First of all, it kept causing the breaker to switch off, because it pulled so much power. Then it started leaking and leaked out half of its contents before I could get it to stop. It takes at least two hours for the liquid to get slushy, and then the drinks don’t taste very good. I wouldn’t recommend. Other than that, it was a very nice wedding in an idyllic setting.

septem3 — Margarita Machine – I don’t recommend

San Diego Corporate Event

I don’t try to get a lot of work in San Diego, because it can be an odyssey getting there and back from the SFV. One of my corporate clients asked me to go down there, and of course I couldn’t refuse. I have done several events for this company in orange county. They are usually product launch events, as was this one. I served drinks for about 100 people. Another successful corporate event.

Bermuda Dunes Bachelorette Party

On Friday I drove to Bermuda Dunes to bartend a bachelorette party. Have you ever tried to spell the word “bachelorette”? The host wanted specialty cocktails that required a bit of preparation. One of the drinks was a watermelon/cucumber margarita. I premade the mix for that using fresh ingredients. We discovered at the party that the drink benefitted from fresh jalapenos. The ladies had six bottles of booze and wondered if that would be enough for nine people. “If you drink all of that booze, you will be in the hospital. Well, they went through 90 percent of it, and they all were still alive when I left. They loved the drinks. septem4

Valley Village Birthday Party

I only had to drive five minutes from my house to do this party. The hosts have a really nice house in Valley Village with a very smartly landscaped yard that is perfect for entertaining. I made my special jalapeno margarita mix, but unfortunately did not bring enough. There were 70 guests and everybody wanted that for their first round. I was out of that in one hour. So the host had to run and get more supplies. I made the French 75, classic champagne cocktail and was surprised how many of those I served. I want to give a shout out to Salinas Churros that were there. They had an incredible churro cart that they built themselves and their churros were delicious. The churro cart was a big hit. I served drinks until 2 am and until almost all of the booze was gone. Went through at least 10 bottles of tequila.

Studio City Surprise Birthday Party

On Sunday I ended the week by bartending a surprise birthday party in the hills of Studio City. This was a referral from another job I did, which I always appreciate. This was a very mellow family event and kids were there swimming. They had a life guard, which is always a good idea. I served margaritas, Moscow mules, and beer. It was a very mellow event, which I was grateful for after the two ragers I did before.

This coming week I have two weekday corporate events in Woodland Hills and West Hollywood. I have three events on Saturday and am sending multiple bartenders out to Mission Viejo, Villa Park, and Silverlake. Shaken Not Stirred has booked 17 events in September and the month is just flying by. I have events in Culver City, Burbank, and La Verne before I close out the month of September 2017. Follow us on Instagram.

Fillmore Wedding and Palm Springs Bachelorette Party

May 26, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

This was a busy weekend for Shaken Not Stirred. Saturday night I did a wedding in Fillmore in Ventura County, and then was off to Palm Springs the next morning to bartend a bachelorette party. I travel all over Southern California to do gigs, and I put a few miles on my car this weekend.

My son helped me with the wedding in Fillmore and did an incredible job. That was the second job he has helped me with and I am comfortable with him bartending or serving. I have extensive experience as a server and am not afraid to get my hands dirty. We had to clear the plates on all the tables at this wedding and help serve the cake. The wedding was set in an orange grove and it was a very nice location for it.

At this particular wedding the bar was set up quite away from the tables and dance floor and everyone was congregated at the bar after dinner, while the dance floor was empty. The bride asked us to move the bar closer to the dance floor and we quickly did it, kegs and all. It all worked out. They had two kegs at this wedding and the beer was popular, but I would say half of the beer was left over. I don’t recommend kegs unless it is a party over 200. They usually slow service way down – it takes about five seconds to open a bottle of beer and hand it to guest, whereas it may take a full minute to fill a draft beer, when there are twenty people in line.

I drove to Palm Springs bright and early for the bachelorette party. I must admit, my mind was racing, wondering exactly what goes on at a bachelorette party? Well, what it boiled down to was several close girlfriends celebrating their friend’s final month as a single person. They rented a house with a pool in Palm Springs for the occasion. I set up my portable bar by the pool and served them Moscow Mules, and wine. It is getting hot in the desert and I have two more events already booked for later this summer in Palm Springs.

Wednesday, I am playing mixologist at a cocktail party in Beverly Hills. I have a list of complex classic drinks the host wants, including a Singapore Sling. This will be a challenge, but I welcome it! Then, next weekend, we are doing an anniversary party in Santa Clarita.

Cocktail Hour Bartenders, Corporate Event

Beverly Hills Corporate Event

May 21, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

I received the call around 2:30pm – they needed a bartender for a corporate event in Beverly Hills at 4pm. I loaded up my portable bar, cooler, bar kit and some martini glasses and hustled my Mustang over Coldwater Canyon into Beverly Hills. I’ve been around this city long enough in and many different capacities that I know it by the back of my hand. If I have to get somewhere in the San Fernando Valley, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, the West side, the South Bay or Santa Monica – I know it. I now have GPS for everywhere else (though I don’t trust it). I have never been late for a gig.

The gig was a sales appreciation thing for the employees work well done. We set up the bar on the rooftop of a building overlooking Rodeo Drive. It was a perfect day for it. We had a specialty drink that was a Blue Slushy Martini – which consisted of Tito’s Handmade Vodka

, a dash of Limeaid, and a dash of Blue Curacao. We also served Kir Royale’s with Verve Cliquot. They had a spread of cold cuts and cheese.

It was a very nice little event of less than twenty people, and I was done just after 7pm. People, I will do events like this every day during the week. Go ahead and call me last minute – I will go. Most of my events are on Saturday nights, so I am always glad to get one during the week. Next month I do have some Friday and Sunday parties already scheduled.

Shaken Not Stirred will be traveling this weekend. Saturday I have a wedding at a ranch in Fillmore, which is northwest of the city near the mountains. My son, Willie is going with me on that one, and I’m glad to have him along. Then, Sunday morning I have to get up early and be in Palm Springs by 11am for an all day bacherlorette party. Then the following week I have a birthday party in Thousand Oaks, and a casual bar mitzvah in Calabassas, where I will be serving “Mocktails.” I love bartending and meeting all kinds of new people and going to new places. This is much better than staying at one place all the time, and I’m grateful for all the jobs I’m getting.

Engagement Parties, Mobile Bartenders, Party Bartenders

Hollywood Engagement Party and Stevenson Ranch Cocktail Party

April 6, 2014April 7, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

April 5^th was a busy day for Shaken Not Stirred. We had an engagement party in Hollywood, which was the second in a two part series, as we did the first one in Chatsworth awhile back. Two twins are going to be married and I was a glad to be a part of both of their engagement parties, and hopefully will be present at their weddings. Both of the girls, their finances, and their parents couldn’t be nicer people.

I brought two servers and a barback with me to the engagement party. The servers were there to just make sure plates and cups and bottles were kept cleaned up. They had a pizza truck come with a portable woodfired oven and make pizzas. I didn’t get the company’s name, but will try to get it and ad it later. There were about 85 people at the party and it went on until 2:00 am. I served pink grapefruit martinis, cosmos, and margaritas. Coronas and St. Archer were the beers of choice.

Meanwhile, at Stevenson Ranch, I had another bartender, Jessica on the scene to do a cocktail party. I double booked that date but everything turned out great. I don’t know a lot of the details, but I guess there were a lot of kids at the party, and Jessica made a selection of virgin drinks for them. She is a very dependable and competent bartender. Dependability is 90 percent in this business. I have never cancelled or been late to an event, and in fact it is my policy to arrive ½ hour early to set up at no extra charge.

Next weekend I am doing a birthday party in El Monte, then another birthday party on Thursday in Woodland hills. I have a big wedding in Valencia later this month and am taking extra staff with me on that one. I have some dates booked in May and am doing a wedding in Fillmore, where I have never gone before. I have other dates booked in June, and as far out as September, but so far July is wide open and I hope to start filling that month up. I would like to do some reunions and pool parties and a Forth of July party