Nostalgia moments of a past life…
My phone rang last night and when I answered it, instead of a ‘hello’ my friend from up north said: “How do you make a Whiskey Sour?” I smiled, laughed and talked him through a Whiskey Sour. (One of my personal favorite drinks).

I get these phone calls every now and again from family, friends, and co-workers. The most humorous of these types of calls was last July. I was at Disneyland with friends and my co-worker called me on my cell phone and asked: “How do you make a French Martini?” (A drink that I turned him on to). I told him how to make it and then he asked me to explain it to the bartender at the restaurant he was at, because he had ordered one and she had never heard of a French Martini. I then found myself speaking to an annoyed bartender… I quickly gave her the ingredients and was glad that I was not in her shoes at that moment. Obviously my co-workers were being difficult and picky customers.

Why are people calling this Bakersfield woman and asking them how to make drinks you may ask.

In my past life (married life) I used to own a Bartending School here in Bakersfield with my ex-husband. I wrote the curriculum used in the bartending classes. I’ve taught hundreds of people in this town how to bartend. I used to book, staff, coordinate, supervise and bartend events for this city. The biggest event being the Bakersfield Business Convention at CSUB with over 12,000 people in attendance where I staffed 6 different bar stations with 20 bartenders and personally made $600 in tips that day. The second biggest event was for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with 5,000 people in attendance 5 bar stations, and a staff of 15 bartenders. I used to do events at the Fox Theater for Tim Gardea and Joe Meloche of 415 Productions who since have developed their own entertainment production companies: Tim Gardea Presents and Icon Entertainment . I’ve done many small events: private parties, weddings, and wakes for local businesses and the community. I also used to be a member of the international Flair Bartending Association and attended many competitions.

I say ‘in my past life’ because I gave up the Bartending School business in my divorce. And it has since dissolved. I am however still a ‘bartender for hire’ for private events if anyone needs one you can contact me here: Matildakay2@yahoo.com

Friday night I went with a friend to watch The Dalloways, Liars and Thieves and other bands play at Gigantic and heard some great music from local bands (read the review here) at nlbelardes.com and passed by the Syndicate Coffee House next to Naked Al’s Tattoo which is the space my Bartending School was located. We went inside and got some drinks and I was surprised to find that it looked almost exactly as it had when I owned it. The Mexican paver tile floor was the same (my ex-husband and I installed it ourselves), the walls were still painted the perfect ‘white wine’ California Chardonnay color of paint that I spent hours picking out and days painting along with the black trim. The bar and back bar was almost exactly the same as the bar we had in the school, which I know was torn out during the time a vintage clothing store was located in the space before Syndicate Coffee House and after the Bartending School. The front corner had couches for lounging and talking; I had a similar set up in the same front corner. I wanted to go upstairs and down in the basement to see what they had done there. It was a very surreal moment for me.

When we left Syndicate Coffee House and walked around downtown I said to my friend: “That was very weird for me, it looked almost the same as when I had it.”

“You sound almost jealous.” He said.

“No, not jealous. It’s just a lot of time, energy, and work went into that place and then one day I went to the bank and signed my name and it wasn’t mine anymore.”

“It’s all in the past.” He said. “It’s all novel fodder now.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just bittersweet memories of a past life is all.”  posted by Matildakay at 9:07 PM