Bartender's Choice Benji Comstive, Glory Bar

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Bartender's Choice: Benji Comstive, Glory Bar

“We want this to be a fun bar. There’s no stereotype; you don’t have to look a certain way to come in,” says Benji, bar manager at the new Glory Bar on Merrion Street. “Jumble Jukebox on Fridays and Saturdays is going to be our main night and that’s what the bar’s all about. We just want to make the night fun and have a good mixture of music, just have guest DJs come down and basically play a night of all the music they love from different genres. And we’ve got nice competitive prices. A nice glass of wine, bottled beers, a good choice of lagers. We’re getting Vedett in on draught and a fruity beer as well, maybe a Liefmans on draught. We’ve got a nice choice of beers.”

Benji is a man who enjoys a Rum Old Fashioned or a Daiquiri – “drinks where you’re not messing around with the flavours” – so his bartender’s choice reflects that. The Woodford Reserve Mint Julep is one of those clean, classic cocktails that manages to retain or even enhance the featured spirit. “I want to taste the spirit; I don’t want to destroy it,” he says. “I want to complement the flavours.” He’s succeeded with this drink: you can certainly taste the warm sweetness of the bourbon, which works brilliantly with the fresh mint aroma.

How did Benji get into bar work? “This was never my intended path! It’s one of those things where it’s a vicious circle – you work late, party late, get up late, and your days merge into weeks, and then your months into years. And your mum’s like ‘when are you going to get a proper job?’. My first proper bar job was at Blackhouse restaurant, I worked there for about two years,” he says. “I went back to university but I dropped out in my second year. I did social policy but I should’ve done social work, that would’ve better suited me, then I’d have got my social work qualification and I could’ve really gone forward in that direction. My mum works in that area. I got a job where my mum works and I kind of worked my way up because I quite liked the job, just dealing with people. It’s the same behind the bar, it’s transferable skills, it’s just about talking to people. I’ve also been a support worker for Big Issue in the North – I supported the sellers with their general welfare and housing. It sounds rewarding, but there’s that many barriers in front of you it can become quite a frustrating job. Somebody’s ready to move into a house but there’s no hostel space available or the waiting lists are that long. You try to get someone off drugs but when it comes down to it the government have got all this red tape in front of you… there’s this massive flaw in the system and it becomes quite frustrating. It’s one of those jobs where it is a really interesting job and you meet loads of interesting people, but it is quite a hard job aswell. It takes a certain type of person to do the job. I’m the sort who’ll take anyone as they are, it doesn’t really bother me.”

Drink: Woodford Reserve Mint Julep
Price: £7
Ingredients: 4 dashes angostura bitters; 2 heaped bar spoons brown sugar; 50ml Woodford Reserve; 8-10 mint leaves; crushed ice. Stir well; top with crushed ice and large sprig of mint.

Posted on Wednesday 4th August 2010
SO'H

Sedgwick Avenue

Merrion Street, Leeds, LS2 7EY

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