Bartender Submission - Kingston Chan, Los Angeles

Kingston Chan

Tesse Restaurant, Los Angeles, California

Photos courtesy Tesse Restaurant

Kingston Chan’s entrance into the bartending world was an accident, stirred by fate. His initial career moves failed him. However, an urge to become a barista always lingered. He gave in to his intuition and landed a job at a local neighborhood coffee shop called Hot Java.

Chan then moved on to a “book bar” concept in his hometown of Long Beach called The Brass Lamp. He developed a strong bond with owner Samantha Argosino and was cross-trained to become a bartender within one month. With his new skills came a new appreciation and greater understanding of mixology.

“When that magical venue unfortunately closed after two years of operation, I found bartending satisfying and applied at other restaurants in town to both pay my bills and hone my liquid culinary talents. I always thought bartending was the liquid version of culinary cooking and found satisfaction in making specialty coffee and espresso-based beverages and expanded my repertoire to include beer, spirits, and wine-based concoctions,” shares Chan.

Eventually, he made a big move to Los Angeles in 2018 and joined the Penny Pound Ice staff. As he gained more and more experience, other opportunities surfaced. He stumbled across two incredible bartending gigs at the Arts District Brewing Company in downtown LA and Tesse Restaurant in West Hollywood.

Tesse Restaurant’s beverage program was created by Julian Cox, one of many pioneers in the modern craft cocktail movement in Los Angeles. Learning gastromolecular mixology from such a prestigious source played a major part in elevating Chan’s bartending skillset.

He also credits much of his development as a bartender to the strong female leaders and female bar owners he has had the pleasure of working for. He comments, “I think that’s part of the reason why I encourage more women to be in the bar community and support their growth and leadership.”

To all novice bartenders, Chan offers some insightful yet straightforward words of wisdom, “You gotta start somewhere!” He recalls moments of making mistakes, ultimately leading to a stronger grasp of what works and what doesn’t in cocktail-making.

CALLISTO DRAGON

INGREDIENTS 2 oz. Callisto California Dry Botanical Rum ½ oz. prickly pear and hibiscus-infused agave ¼ oz. Xila Liqueur 1 oz. fresh lime juice Dragon fruit blossom (for garnish)

PREPARATION Rim a rock glass with mixture of Aleppo pepper, Ancho pepper, and dragon fruitinfused Himalayan salt. Bring ingredients together in a shaker tin. Shake for 20 seconds until shaker tin is cold. Pour over fresh ice in rimmed rocks glass. Garnish with dragon fruit blossom or two Pocky crackers.