The Beverage Alcohol Resource team. Not a student or out-of-work actor among them.

Once, wrote The New York Times in 1891, “butchers were both artists and aristocrats.” Well, that golden era is back, although you don’t have to doff your cap and give them your first-born this time around. Meet the butchers, as well as bartenders and baristas, behind a renaissance in their respective fields in this look at hot new culinary careers.

We spoke to butchers like Mark Pastore of Pat LaFrieda, Tom Mylan of Marlow & Daughters and Nicolas Ottomanelli of Ottomanelli Brothers about their craft, as well as the man who put the art back into bartending in the early ’90s, Dale DeGroff. There’s also Sam Penix, a career barista from Everyman Espresso, and many more.

If you feel inspired by these unusual career developments, we’ve also got a rundown of the best classes to help you develop your skills.

Ah, synergy. On the heels of this afternoon’s announcement that the Astor Center will be debuting an expanded space in time for the NYCWFF, the Feed hears that former AC worker bee Lesley Townsend is organizing a festival of her own.

A preview of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic is planned for October 3 and 4 (the weekend prior to the NYCWFF) and will feature panels and discussions with some of the country’s greatest bar talent. You know the names: Dale DeGroff, Sasha Petraske, Julie Reiner, Dave Wondrich—it’s like a micro Tales of the Cocktail without the po’ boys! (Bummer—everyone loves a po’ boy.)

The best news of all: That dude with the malfunctioning mustache should find it much easier to tame in autumnal New York.

The legendary Dale DeGroff makes a rare behind-the-bar appearance, showing those young'uns how it's done. (Photo: Michael Anstendig)

Probably unbeknownst to you, yesterday was the 203rd anniversary of the birth of the cocktail, and what better way to celebrate than by downing terrific tipples mixed by nearly two dozen top mixologists like Dale DeGroff, Gary Regan, Dave Wondrich, Audrey Saunders and other boozy luminaries. The bacchanalian extravaganza took place at Pranna, with the proceeds benefiting the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans. Read more »

First-place winner Jonathan Pogash embraces third-placer Erin Williams, left, and second-placer Lisa Victoria Hare, right. (Photo: Michael Anstendig)

The sports world has the Olympics, elite bartenders have the World Cocktail Competition. This week, six of New York’s most ambitious mixologists competed for the honor of representing the Big Apple. The contenders were formidable: Marshall Altier (Insieme), Elba Giron (Bar Milano alumna), Lisa Victoria Hare (Von and Bobo), Jonathan Pogash (the World Bar) and Erin Williams (Remy Cointreau USA). Read more »

A sampling of bitters. (Photo: Michael Anstendig)

Cocktail bitters, unsung heroes of the libation world, got their props yesterday at Julie Reiner’s Clover Club in Brooklyn. Artisanal drink jockeys like Jim Meehan and Don Lee (PDT), Alex Day and Joaquin Simo (Death & Company) and even the honorable king of cocktails, Dale DeGroff, were on hand for an educational immersion into this macerated realm. Read more »