March 30, 2016

Regional finalists announced for Star of the Bar 2016

(Chicago) The National Restaurant Association today announced the six finalists of the 2016 Regional Star of the Bar Market Challenge, who will compete in the upcoming Star of the Bar Finals at BAR (Beverage Alcohol for Restaurants) as part of the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®. Taking place at Chicago’s McCormick Place on Sunday, May 22, the Finals will be emceed by Spike TV’s Bar Rescue Host and Executive Producer Jon Taffer, with a panel of judges selecting the overall winner of the annual mixology competition.  

This national cocktail competition invites six finalists from leading culinary cities - including Chicago, San Diego, Boston, Charleston, New York City, and San Francisco - to mix up the most innovative cocktail creation using Jägermeister, exclusively imported and distributed in the U.S. by Star of the Bar sponsor Sidney Frank Importing Company. Finalists from each market are flown to Chicago to face off in a live event on the 2016 NRA Show floor for a chance to win the coveted Star of the Bar title and $5,000 grand prize.

The annual Star of the Bar regional competition series kicked off in Chicago on February 29 at Gallery at GreenRiver, with regional competitions concluding this week at Twenty Five Lusk in San Francisco. The complete list of regional finalists competing for the overall Star of the Bar title at the NRA Show this May include:

Chicago Finalist: Carlos Cuarta
 
Restaurant/Bar: 90 Miles Cuban Café
 
Winning cocktail: "Curt's Summer Dram," a complex cocktail created with Jägermeister, rum, passion fruit, lemon juice, and bitters
 
 
 
San Diego Finalist: Brian Prugalidad
 
Restaurant/Bar: Bracero Cocina
 
Winning cocktail: “Finishing Move: Serious, Serious Punch,” a complex cocktail using pineapple, pisco, bitters, and cinnamon bark syrup to complement the Jägermeister
 
 
 
Boston Finalist: Tenzin Samdo
 
Restaurant/Bar: Trade-Boston
 
Winning cocktail: "56 Secret Admirers," a mix of Jägermeister, mezcal, ginger beer, bitters, and candied ginger
 
 
 
Charleston Finalist: Teddy Nixon
 
Restaurant/Bar: Bar Mash
 
Winning cocktail: "Day Tripper," a tropical blend of toasted coconut pineapple rum, pineapple juice, lime, orgeat, peychaud bitters, and absinthe along with Jägermeister
 
 
 
New York Finalist: Matt Friedlander
 
Restaurant/Bar: Fools Gold NYC
 
Winning cocktail: "Any Which Way But Left," blending Jägermeister with aperol, amaro, molé bitters, and a grapefruit peel garnish
 
 
 
San Francisco Finalist: Baron Stelling
 
Place of work: Paragary’s Midtown and The Shady Lady Saloon
 
Winning cocktail: "The Stag Savior," blending Jägermeister with gin, lime juice, grenadine, and apricot liquor, topped with dashes of bitters and absinthe
 

For more information on how to attend the final Star of the Bar showdown at the 2016 NRA Show, please visit www.restaurant.org/show or www.restaurant.org/bar. 

The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show® is the largest annual gathering of restaurant, foodservice, and lodging professionals in the world. NRA Show® 2016 will be held May 21-24 at McCormick Place in Chicago, and the 2016 BAR at NRA Show Event, held in conjunction with NRA Show, will take place May 22-23. The events attract 66,000+ attendees and visitors from all 50 states and 100+ countries, and showcase the latest products, services, innovative ideas, up-to-the-minute information about trends and issues, and growth opportunities. For more information, visit the NRA Show and BAR websites at Restaurant.org/Show and Restaurant.org/BAR and find the NRA Show on Twitter @NRAShow, Facebook, Instagram @NRAShow, YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest and our year-round content hub Brainfeed.

About Jägermeister
Jägermeister is the second largest selling imported liquor in the United States and one of the top shot brands in the world.  The famed herbal liqueur, which features natural ingredients including cinnamon, star anise, ginger and cardamom, gets its full-bodied flavor from a four-stage cold maceration process applied over several weeks to extract aromatic compounds from a closely guarded recipe of 56 of the finest exotic herbs, roots, blossoms and fruits, plus aging in oak casks for one year. The production process is exacting and includes sourcing premium ingredients in their raw, unprocessed form, along with 383 quality checks to ensure its iconic taste profile. Sidney Frank Importing Company Inc. is dedicated to responsible consumption by those of legal drinking age and is a member of The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

About the National Restaurant Association

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises more than 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of 15.5 million employees. Together with 52 State Associations, we are a network of professional organizations dedicated to serving every restaurant through advocacy, education, and food safety. We sponsor the industry's largest trade show (National Restaurant Association Show); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart). For more information, visit Restaurant.org and find @WeRRestaurants on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Vanessa Sink

vsink@restaurant.org (202) 331-5900