The National Restaurant Association today announced Pamela Wiznitzer of Dead Rabbit in New York City as the 2014 Star of the Bar, a national cocktail competition hosted by the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show and International Wine, Spirits, and Beer Event (IWSB). As one of the closest competitions to date, Wiznitzer was crowned in front of a live audience at Sunday night’s Restaurants Rock party at Castle Chicago, hosted and emceed by Andrew Zimmern, chef, food writer, and host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods. Judges for the event included master mixologists Tony Abou-Ganim and Dale DeGroff along with Bridget Albert from Southern Wine & Spirits. In addition to bragging rights for the year, Wiznitzer walks away with a $5,000 check.
“Pamela had a great story for her cocktail. She spoke of when she first fell in love with tequila and her creative combination of Casamigos Tequila with rose liqueur, lemon juice, fresh-pressed apple juice, strawberry preserves, burlesque bitters, and absinthe wowed the judges and earned her the title of Star of the Bar,” said 2014 NRA Show and IWSB Convention Chair Sam Facchini, co-founder and co-owner of Las Vegas-based Metro Pizza.
Wiznitzer was one of six finalists flown to Chicago to demonstrate her cocktail on the IWSB show-floor on Sunday, May 18. Three mixologists were chosen by IWSB guests to proceed to the final competition at Restaurants Rock, and Wiznitzer went head to head with Brandon Phillips of Bottlefork in Chicago and Egor Polonskiy of Jimmy at the James in Chicago, on Sunday night. Wiznitzer shook up her “La Bonita” cocktail with Casamigos Tequila in front of the judges and amongst a crowd of cocktail enthusiasts, ultimately winning her the Star of the Bar title.
“A lot of people were saying ‘do it for the women’ – I just want to show young women out there that you can make a lucrative career out of bartending; that it doesn’t just take shaking a drink and shimmying around in a sports bar,” said Wiznitzer. “It’s really applying your knowledge and passion. Understanding it’s a craft, it’s an art, and a balance and putting that all forth into a glass and into your service at the bar.”
Since 2006, Wiznitzer has been working throughout NYC and currently can be found shaking things up at The Dead Rabbit down in the Financial District. She has earned honors from her industry peers such as winning Tyku’s 2011 Sake challenge, selected as one of the 20 Diageo World Class 2012 Contestants, a finalist in Pama’s 2011 “Beyond the Glass” competition, and most recently won Bacardi Limited’s “Champions Drink Responsibly” Mocktail competition judged by #1 ranked tennis star Victoria Azarenka. She is an active member and serves as the President of the New York City chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild and works with Prime Produce’s (a non-profit) program “Shenanigans for Charity,” bartending at various venues throughout NYC to raise money for different charities. Wiznitzer is committed to and believes in the continuation of her pursuit of knowledge and is currently working towards a master’s degree in Food Studies, with a concentration on spirits and alcohol, at NYU’s Steinhardt School. Additionally, she presents her research at seminars and conferences and writes for various publications about the spirit and alcohol industry.
To see Pamela Wiznitzer in action, see her Star of the Bar submission video and full recipe here.
Now celebrating its seventh year, the International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event is co-located within the 2014 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®. IWSB features domestic and international brewers, distillers, and vintners showcasing hundreds of established and emerging labels, beverage alcohol-focused, industry expert-led education sessions, hands-on demonstrations, dynamic mixology competition, and access to professionally paired menu items from local Chicago restaurants.
The annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is the largest single gathering of restaurant, foodservice, and lodging professionals. NRA Show 2014 will be held May 17-20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, and the 2014 International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event held in conjunction with the NRA Show will take place May 18-19. The events attract 61,000+ attendees and visitors from all 50 states and 100+ countries, and the event showcases the latest products, services, innovative ideas, up-to-the-minute information about trends and issues, and more growth opportunities than any other industry event. For more information, visit the NRA Show and IWSB Websites at Restaurant.org/Show and WineSpiritsBeer.org, and find the NRA Show on Twitter @NRAShow, Facebook, YouTube and its widely read NRA Show Blog.
