Amanda Buhr, Bartender at Zoe

To be taken seriously as a woman behind the bar is an arduous task that is still felt in some areas of the industry. The bar is becoming less of a man's world every year and there are more and more women who are at the forefront of modern mixology. Amanda Buhr, head bartender at the Zoe Lounge in the W New Orleans Hotel is one of those ladies. She has a true passion for taste and innovation in her bar and a constant need to provide only the best drinks to her patrons. Buhr is filled with advice for other women who are pursuing this career and for anyone interested in working in the unique environment of a hotel bar.

Amanda Buhr is a passionate bartender who heads the beverage program for the Zoe Lounge at the W New Orleans Hotel on Poydras Street. She is a wonder behind the bar and has been instrumental in designing its cocktail menu, which features many of her original drinks like a delicious Sparkling Strawberry Tini and bourbon-based Un Bohemian (see below). Buhr has an understanding of flavor and customer satisfaction that is often rare and it is the style of the Zoe that blends perfectly with her own.

Buhr got her start in the New Orleans cocktail scene as a server at a jazz club called the Funky Butt while attending Tulane University. She admits that her progression to the stick was a bit of a fluke when two friends urged her to begin bartending despite her reluctance because, "I was afraid I would kind of like it." So began a career path that veered from her intention but which has been rewarding and progressing quickly.

The job rewards for Buhr are great. Not only is she a perfectionist with her drinks, but she finds the clientele she works with an undeniable perk and it shows constantly. "We're really lucky here. I've met very great people at this bar." Admittedly, the comfort of the second floor Zoe Lounge fits her style perfectly, as it does for many of its patrons. The people who visit the Zoe seem to be more laid back, simply looking for a place to relax in comfort with fantastic drinks and good friends. "We have the two bars downstairs and it takes a little more effort to come up here, so we get a different clientele."

It takes a special person to work a hotel bar, especially if it is a large hotel in which that bar you're working is the main watering hole. Amanda Buhr often works the bar at the Zoe Lounge alone, handling drink orders for everyone in the lounge and the adjacent tapa restaurant along with 20 floors of guest rooms and everyone hanging out at the pool. This self proclaimed "control freak" can handle anything you throw at her and anything everyone else does as well.

At the time I spoke to her she had ultimate control. Despite the growing dinner crowd, the 70 swimmers outside and a rush of Tales of the Cocktail revelers who were headed to the 7 Deadly Sins cocktail party that night, she still took the time to talk to me and impress me with every cocktail sample she threw down. In comparison with her previous experience at non-hotel bars Buhr says, "There is a big difference, especially at the W with our "Whatever, Whenever" service standard." The guests call the shots and despite a bartender's reluctance, if they ask for it they get it - even if that means replacing the champagne of your signature drink with Sprite.

Hotel bars are busier and that leads to some limitations when stocking the bar. During Essence Music Festival, Buhr served $4000 in drinks in a single afternoon and during another weekend she made over 130 of her strawberry tinis. This means that while she prefers Charbay Red Raspberry Vodka in that drink, she has substituted Stoli Raz instead because of its availability. It is concessions like that which must be made for the bar to meet its demand.

The role women are taking in the world's bars has been changing over the years but there is still a difference. This is mostly dependent on the city and establishment that you work in. New Orleans is one of those city's where there are an outrageous number of bars and the chance of finding one that exploits women bartenders as sex objects is high.

Amanda Buhr found that out when she worked on Bourbon Street prior to the W. Razu was the highest grossing bar in the state and Buhr held a record for how many drinks she could sell in one hour. However, she was told, "You're not here to bartend, you're here to flirt with the guys and the boys are her to do the bartending." She goes on to say, "That's when I decided to get into this side of it where there's a little more respect and it's not about having your assets spread out on the table."

Of course, not every woman bartender runs into these situations, but it is something to be aware of for those who want to pursue this career. Buhr does caution women that "you have to be able to take a few licks." A keen understanding of liquor is also important. Buhr says, "When you have girls that maybe drink a Malibu and Coke, you're just not going to be able to do the crafting of the cocktails. You have to be passionate about the liquor." These are two very good points both men and women can take, especially if they want to advance to the ranks of a mixologist.

Buhr knows what to do and her drinks are some of the best I while in New Orleans. She has that passion for drink she feels is necessary and a stream of ideas for improving the menus at the Zoe. She would love to implement a fresh infusion menu, is thinking about using more herbs in her drinks, has a wealth of knowledge of the boutique and new spirits and how they could be used, and is even pursuing her sommelier certification.

To give you an idea of what to expect to get when Buhr is behind the bar, her drinks include...

• Sparkling Strawberry Tini - 5-6 muddled Louisiana strawberries and Stoli Raz (or Charbay Red Raspberry as she prefers), topped with champagne
• Un Bohemian - 2 parts Bulleit Bourbon, 1 part , splash of lime juice
• In the winter she'll make a "toddy" of muddled lemon rind, wild hibiscus simple syrup, G'Vine, St. Germain and hot Serendipity green tea and in the summer she'll skip the tea and top it with soda.
• French Martini - a variation of the original using Charbay Blood Orange
• Bloody Mary - a variation using either Charbay Green Tea or Mayer Lemon
• A drink of Don Eduardo Tequila, Patron Citronge and lavender.

Buhr is also going to take into consideration the intensity of a drink that takes as much time as she puts into it. "That's a thing with specialty cocktails. If it takes 15 minutes to make, I'm going to make sure you're going to have a little buzz after you drink it because it's a waste of time otherwise. I think you have to have a heavy pour on something like that."