Rawdon barman is Brooklyn-bound (From Ilkley Gazette)

Rawdon barman is Brooklyn-bound

2:24pm Monday 15th October 2012 in Local news By Annette McIntyre

Barman Alex Carr was shaken but not stirred when he competed to win a trip to New York.

The 22-year-old, from Rawdon, kept his cool and served up the winning cocktail – a bourbon, raspberry and dark chocolate Buffalo Smash – to secure the chance to work in an American bar later this year.

Alex, who is bar manager at the Brooklyn Bar in Leeds, will swop Yorkshire for the Big Apple after beating off competition from 11 other bartenders who work for the Jones Bar Group.

He is hoping to pick up a few tips at Dick and Jane’s Bar in Brooklyn, New York. And his visit will form part of an exchange, with an American bartender going to Leeds.

He said: “It was nerve-wracking but it’s the chance-of-a-lifetime really so you’ve just got to go in there all guns blazing.”

He added: “Just even to win a trip over there is absolutely amazing, but to have the chance to go out there and work in a bar in America – there are not any words to describe it.”

The bartenders had to impress the judges with their cocktails and give a short speech arguing the case to be chosen for the trip.

While Alex is in Brooklyn, the general manager at Dick and Jane’s Bar will visit Leeds to work at the Jones Bar Group’s locations, which include Horsforth.

Matthew Jones, managing director of Jones Bar Group Ltd, said: “Alex has just got huge amounts of skill – he’s very confident as a cocktail maker.”