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Launched in October, Ali Donohue's weekly "Portland Bartender Profiles" on Dispatch magazine.com are ... well, enlightening, and often a hoot to read. The latest, a little tamer than some of its predecessors, is on Jeremy Sossei of Boda, looking either half awake or "get this over with already" in his obligatory behind-the-bar photo. But he's a good interview, opening up about how he taught himself to mix drinks at home and the laid-back, trial and error approach that he takes in creating Boda's inventive cocktails.
There are things I put on the menu that are pretty weird sometimes. Things I just know that 1 out of 10 people are going to like. More of an experimental thing. You have to keep that in mind. They're not all for everyone ... If more people send it back than like it that might say something about the drink. It might need re-hatching. Doesn't particularly bother me anymore.Creative cocktails are not the hallmark of friendly, homey Andy's Old Port Pub, the antithesis of a swanky city cocktail lounge. "If you're walking along and not paying attention to the nooks along the facade, you'll likely miss it," writes Emma Bouthillette for The Portland Press Herald's Bar Guide.
There's some small-town charm to this little waterfront pub ... It's my impression that Andy's is the kind of place that hard-working people go to unwind.
· The Portland Bartender Profiles: Jeremy Sossei [Dispatch]
· Inconspicuous Andy's Brings Local Flavor To Old Port [PPH]
[Photo: the bar at Boda/Facebook]