2015.07.01 Tending to the Competition - Folioweekly

(/)

ADVANCED (/SEARCH.HTML)

CONTACT US (/CONTACT/) | LOG IN (/LOGIN.HTML) | ADVERTISE (/ADVERTISE/) | NEWSLETTER

(/NEWSLETTER/) |

FOLIO COMMUNITY

FOLIO NEWS

TENDING TO THE COMPETITIONLocal Craft Cocktailsman Ford Robertstested his skills against nations best

Posted: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 3:00 pm

by JORDAN FERRELL ([email protected])

For The Grape & Grain Exchanges Ford Roberts, the world of bartending isno longer a labor of love, but a profession of grandeur. The 34-year-oldNew Orleans native recently competed in the 2015 Diageo World Class U.S.Finals after becoming one of three finalists at the Southern Regionals inOrlando. According to Roberts, just 15 out of 1,000 applicants wereadvanced from this regional challenge, which he was reluctant to evenenter.

The finals were in Chicago on June 23 and 24 and some of the nations bestbartenders were in attendance.

After three demanding days of various challenges that addressedeverything from speed and presentation to food pairing and originality,

Tyson Buhler of New York came away with the honors of U.S. champion. Though Roberts didnt take home thegrand prize in Chicago, he certainly made his hometown proud.

Folio Weekly had a chance to sit down with him after this journey to pick his brain on life, inspiration andprofessional bartending

Folio Weekly: So, the regional competition you won to qualify for the U.S. final had you ever competed in anythinglike it before?

Ford Roberts: No, I have never competed in anything like it. Ive maybe done four or five [small] competitionsbut Im not really a big competitor. And I wasnt even going to do this competition, but my friend said, Youhave to do it. You got to do it, man and I told him I didnt want to, but he said it would be a great experience.

Ford Roberts

DOWNLOAD OUR DOJAX APP

THE EYE MORE PHOTOS (/THE-EYE/) | SUBMIT A PHOTO(/TYPE/PHOTOS/POST.HTML)

(http://folioweekly.ads.communityq.com/www/delivery

/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=254__zoneid=37__cb=f8c41afd44__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwhiskeyjax.com)

CALENDAR MORE EVENTS (/CALENDAR.HTML) |SUBMIT AN EVENT (HTTPS://WWW.SPINGO.COM

/SUBMIT?AFFILIATEID=913)

(http://folioweekly.ads.communityq.com/www/delivery

/ck.php?oaparams=2__bannerid=15__zoneid=4__cb=4a8c6573c1__oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fjaxlive.com)

(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.folioweekly.android)

(https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id731298417?mt=8)

(/Coming-Out-Monologues,12884)

Coming Out Monologues(/Coming-Out-Monologues,12884)

(/MR-BURNS-A-POST-ELECTRIC-PLAY-AT-PLAYERS-BY-THE-SEA,12596)

MR. BURNS, A POSTELECTRIC PLAY ATPLAYERS BY THE SEA(/MR-BURNS-A-POST-ELECTRIC-PLAY-AT-PLAYERS-BY-THE-SEA,12596)

(/Bite-Club-at-The-Well,12360)

Bite Club at The Well(/Bite-Club-at-The-Well,12360)

(/Bite-Club-at-The-Pig-Bar-B-Q,12195)

Bite Club at The PigBar-B-Q (/Bite-Club-at-The-Pig-Bar-B-Q,12195)

TENDING TO THE COMPETITION - Folioweekly http://folioweekly.com/TENDING-TO-THE-COMPETITION,...

1 of 3 7/9/15 2:00 PM

And so, I turned my application and recipe in 20 minutes before the deadline and I was accepted. Its a prettybig thing.

What was the review process like? Did you have to have a decent rsum? What was the deciding factor as to whyyou got picked?

Theyre looking for personality. Its Diageo [a British multinational alcoholic beverage company], you aresupposed to be world class and thats what theyre going for. I think 1,100 people applied for the SouthernRegional and they chose 15. It was four essay questions and a cocktail recipe, which makes it tough to pick just15 from that alone.

What was the competition like in terms of challenges?

There were six challenges, two every day, for three days. The first day, you have to make three cocktails thatare inspired by Chicago. The next day is a written exam and a blind tasting exam, along with pairing a cocktailwith an appetizer and entre. Theres also a speed challenge, where you have to make six cocktails in eightminutes, and then the sensorium test, where you make a cocktail that involves all of the senses (taste, touch,sight, sound, smell).

What was the toughest one you faced?

For me, they were all difficult, but the one I didnt do the best on was the speed round. I just got nervous. Iserved Julie Reiner [co-owner of New York-based Flatiron Lounge and Clover Club], a real big deal in theservice industry, a daiquiri without any sugar in it. And I forgot to put sugar in an Old Fashioned I servedSteven Olson [aka Wine Geek], another big deal in the industry, so I didnt fare too well in the speed round,which is normally something Im good in.

Lets talk about the judges. Im picturing Hells Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay-types of judges. What were they like?

We didnt really get to interact with them that much and they dont really get to tell you as much. Ill get myevaluation and my scoring and their criticisms, probably in a month. So, thats probably when they will reallylay into me.

What was the most interesting or unique drink you saw made there?

I dont know if I saw anything that I had never seen before, but some of the strangest drinks came out of themarket challenge. People were buying mushrooms and daikon roots and other wild shit. People were makingvery umami-style cocktails as opposed to sour and sweet. Presentation-wise, a lot of things blew me away. Oncertain challenges I was doing those things but people were doing it throughout all of their cocktails.

Whats the one thing that you are taking away from that whole experience?

Something that I would take away and bring back here would be the general knowledge of the competition toother bartenders and to then push them to do it as well, because I think we have some amazing talent here inJacksonville. Personally, just seeing what it takes to be considered World Class. Seeing how much of it is yourpersonality and how you interact with the guest as you are doing things that are technical.

So, you would do it again next year if you have the chance?

Oh, yeah. I mean, you get to hang out with some of the top bartenders in the world and just the judges aloneare worth it. You are kicking it with people like Dale DeGroff [aka King Cocktail] and just shooting the shit.

Fair enough. OK, say I come into Grape and Grain and Im an inexperienced drinker. Whats your go-to drink whatwould you serve me?

Thats actually one of the questions that was on the application and my response was [that] I treat it as anexperience, so I ask you questions, feel you out and find out what you like and then go from there. Making itless about what I can do and more about what we can do as an interaction in terms of what you like, becausemost people dont know what they want. But finding out what they want through communication is one of thebiggest parts of bartending, I think.

TENDING TO THE COMPETITION - Folioweekly http://folioweekly.com/TENDING-TO-THE-COMPETITION,...

2 of 3 7/9/15 2:00 PM

COPYRIGHT 2014 FOLIO WEEKLY | PRIVACY POLICY (/PRIVACY/) | BACK ISSUES (HTTP://ISSUU.COM/FOLIOWEEKLY/DOCS) | WHERE TO FIND FOLIO (HTTP://FOLIOWEEKLY.COM/FIND-THE-FOLIO/) | POWERED BY: CREATIVE CIRCLE MEDIA SOLUTIONS ()

PRINT EMAIL (/SEND_ITEM.HTML?SUB_ID=12972&REFERRING_URL=%2FTENDING-TO-THE-COMPETITION%2C12972) TweetTweet 2

0

Keywordsford roberts (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter=ford roberts), grape and grain exchange (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter= grape and grain exchange), 2015 diageo world class u.s. finals (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter= 2015 diageo world class u.s. finals), bartending (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter=bartending), southern regionals (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter= southern regionals), challenge (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter= challenge), jacksonville (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter= jacksonville),florida (/search_mode/keyword/browse.html?search_filter= florida)

Other stories that might interest you

NO COMMENTS ON THIS STORY | ADD YOUR COMMENT

17ShareShare Share

FOURSUGGESTIONS FORCHIEF JUDGE MARKMAHON (/FOUR-SUGGESTIONS-FOR-CHIEF-JUDGE-MARK-MAHON,13045)

(/FOUR-

SUGGESTIONS-FOR-CHIEF-JUDGE-MARK-MAHON,13045)

It seems that Duval CountyChief Judge Mark Mahon

The Power Meter(/The-Power-Meter,13043)POWER DOWN: The FloridaTimes UnionWith their

THE GENERALSPECIFIC (/THE-GENERAL-SPECIFIC,12978)

(/THE-GENERAL-

SPECIFIC,12978)

Though much of the localpolitical coverage has

TENDING TO THE COMPETITION - Folioweekly http://folioweekly.com/TENDING-TO-THE-COMPETITION,...

3 of 3 7/9/15 2:00 PM