Meet A Bartender

Introducing the 4th installment of Cocktail Week 2013's Meet A Bartender feature, where we get to know just a little bit about the stellar people who mix our drinks, toast to our good news, offer friendly advice, and sometimes dry our tears (with a good stiff drink).

Meet Ian Redmond, Front of House manager and beverage director at Torino in Ferndale. Ian has been in the restaurant industry for 14 years, "I went to Michigan State and ended up staying in the Lansing area for several years afterwards at various restaurants. Most recently I was the bar manager of Gracie's Place, a farm to table restaurant in Williamston, before deciding to move back to Metro Detroit and finding Torino."

His passion for making great cocktails makes Torino and excellent fit, as well as a challenge; "We have had great success with our craft cocktail program, writing a new cocktail menu every 10 weeks to keep it fresh and seasonal. The focus is always balance, nothing too dry or too sweet, as well as making the effort to make everything we can in house, from the bitters to house liqueurs and syrups."

What's his preferred drink to make on the job? "My current favorite is the Drake Mallard, which features a house made duck infused bourbon, Slow Jams blackberry ginger jam, house made blood orange bitters, amaro, grand marnier, Blis sherry vinegar, and egg white."

And for himself? "Personally I prefer traditional cocktails such as manhattans and negronis, but I have been drinking a lot of aged rums lately like Ron zacapa 23 solera. Wine is also a favorite of mine, from northern rhone whites to italian reds like aglianico."

Check back for Ian's personal hangover cure, appearing later today in the hangover power hour.
· Torino Ferndale [Official Site]
· All Torino Coverage [-ED-]
· All Meet A Bartender Features [-ED-]
[Photo by Tiffany Henderson]