Christine L. Faherty, who received Penn College degrees in culinary arts technology (2005), dietary manager technology (2005) and culinary arts and systems (2008) returned to campus on Nov. 6 to talk with students in Chef Mary Trometter’s Hospitality Beverage Management Service and Controls class about her work as a professional craft bartender and about the role of a beverage program in a restaurant’s operations and revenue.Faherty is the assistant to the beverage manager at 2941, a fine-dining restaurant in Falls Church, Virginia.
“I use all of the tools that I learned in school,” she said. “We all build menus; I do that, but for a liquid menu.”
Faherty moved from the kitchen – where she worked in Manhattan under James Beard Award-winning Chef Tom Colicchio (a “Top Chef” head judge) – to bartending during the recession, when many restaurants closed, and has found career satisfaction in the field and at 2941, which offers award-winning seasonal tasting menus and, she said, reminds her of the college’s Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, a fine-dining learning lab for hospitality students.
“I fell in love with Le Jeune Chef while I was here,” she said.
At 2941, she creates original craft cocktails to accompany the tasting menus.
At Columbia Firehouse, an American brasserie and barroom in Alexandria, Virginia, Faherty learned classical bartending – mastering traditional mixed drinks. She then began using that skill and her knowledge of flavor profiles to add her own twist to the drinks, which entered her into the realm of craft bartending. She has also pursued continuing education, joining local bartending guilds and traveling for further education with the U.S. Bartending Guild.
For their final project, students in the course are preparing a tasting beverage menu and gathered Faherty’s input on their ideas. The menu must include recipes for a craft beverage and a mocktail.
Mocktails – or nonalcoholic mixed drinks – are a growing trend in restaurants, Faherty said, as those who don’t want to consume alcohol seek an upgrade from soda.
Faherty, along with Alex Taylor, who is the bar manager for Hank’s Oyster Bar in Alexandria, Virginia, also discussed the variety of job opportunities in professional beverage management, educational opportunities through the U.S. Bartenders Guild, competitive bartending, and job seeking tips, as well as practical, on-the-job advice.
While at Penn College, Faherty traveled to the Kentucky Derby, volunteered as an on-stage assistant for the Pennsylvania Farm Show’s Culinary Connections stage, served as an intern for “You’re the Chef,” the college’s public television cooking series, and was active in many other service opportunities. She received the hospitality department’s excellence award for the hours she devoted to serving the college.