Holly Ingram
Captain at Pilot Restaurant
I got into bartending at Uni, it was just a job back then to pay the bills. I worked at this nightclub in Adelaide that did about 6 cocktails and booked 4 DJs for the night, we served mostly vodka soda limes and espresso martinis. It was an interesting club, everyone that worked there had a passion for music and drinks despite the product that they served the most of was a vodka soda lime (The limes had to be cut that night by the way – nothing from the night before). This club taught me how to stir down drinks properly and to this day I rarely see cocktail bars with the rigour of training that I saw at that club. Since then and over my 10 years in the game, I’ve managed and worked openings of a respectable number of cocktail bars across South Australia and the ACT.
What challenges did you face in the early days of being a bartender and do you think that these challenges still exist for you?
I felt a little taken for granted in my first few years, I certainly didn’t see my male counterparts having to try for training opportunities or drinks on menus, things often had a boys club feel. I put my name forward for every training opportunity, developed numerous recipes and took on every ‘rockstar’ shift I could find. I developed a sense on how to get in front of that “jobs for the boys mentality”. These challenges don’t really exist for me as much anymore and I can see the bartending community doing more to address the ‘boys club mentality’ but I would imagine that, equitable workplace culture is case by case.
What’s your number one venue for knock offs?
Nowadays it’s often a sober bike ride home – which in the warmer months I really enjoy. On the rare occasion that I find myself going for a knock off, I go to Bar Rochford to drink whatever they have on the specials. When I was younger (and still living in Adelaide) I adored a bar called Hains and Co – this place is one of the most hospo friendly bars for a knock off, it had tankards for beer glasses and a break even bottle program, enough said.
Who do you look up to in the industry and why?
I often find myself looking to those who write well, Myffy Rigby and Gemima Cody, who aren’t bartenders at all. I like a more broader sense of the food and drinks community. I do still want to know what left of field ingredient someone’s got in a rotovat believe me but I find myself interested in a more broader ecosystem of food and drinks. I feel as though food and drinks writers/critics have a unique perspective that are a blend of the consumer and the industry professional.
If you could only drink one cocktail for the rest of your life what would it be?
A negroni – and if someone challenged me to do this, it would be almost too easy.
What’s one piece of advice that you would give to newcomers in the industry now?
Drink original cocktails in cocktail bars and ask your bartender questions about their menu. 1. It will help advise you on developing your own ingredients, cocktails and menus 2. It’s the most sincere form of professional networking, which is one of the most effective investments of your time, connections with counterparts and peers will be where a lot of professional satisfaction lies. There is a very good reason why bartenders sit at bars.