Bartending with a smile and flair

Bartending with a smile and flair

Chisato Hara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The warm lighting, moon orchids and lounge atmosphere of the
Oriental Bar at the Hotel Mandarin Oriental Jakarta provides a
cozy place to unwind after a day's work, accompanied by a live
band crooning the tunes of Norah Jones.

The Oriental may not be the neon-lit, rowdy establishment of
Cocktail, the 1988 film starring Tom Cruise, but it has bottle-
juggling bartenders.

Bar Manager Agung Adhi Prabowo has recently brought home a
trophy from the 2005 International Bar Association (IBA)
flairtending competition, held from May 10 through May 13 at the
Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre. The only Indonesian
entry among 64 top bartenders from Asia, Australia and Europe,
Agung came in second place.

"We are so, so proud of him," said Mandarin Resident Manager
Markus Schneider, who was bubbling with excitement the week Agung
returned from Hong Kong.

"But it's really 1st Runner-up," Agung said with his
characteristic smile. "There's only one winner -- the No. 1
bartender."

Born and raised in Jakarta, Agung graduated in 1998 from state
tourism senior high school Panca Sakti, where bartending is part
of the hotel, restaurant and tourism services curriculum. He did
not initially plan on becoming a professional bartender -- until
he saw Cocktail. Inspired, he began practicing juggling and other
bar tricks every day with a co-worker at the now-defunct Poni
Cafe in Pondok Indah.

"Bartending is a way to have personal contact with guests, to
get to know people. It's also about entertaining guests."

When Agung decided upon his career path, however, his parents
disagreed: "My father said, your life will be in alcohol."

But determined to become a top-notch bartender, Agung became a
member of the Jakarta Bartenders Club (JBC) in 2000, and used his
spare time from a 5 nights on, one night off work week to take
advanced certificate courses from 2001-2004 -- including a
Ministry of Tourism bartender course and the Sopexa wine training
course.

"But I didn't do it alone. I had the support of friends and
fellow bartenders."

Following his dream paid off when he entered the 2001 Jakarta
Bartender Competition held at Hotel Horison Bekasi and placed
fourth. With this initial success, he also won his parents'
support.

Since then, he has competed annually in successively higher
competitions. He has arguably been Indonesia's No. 1 bartender
since 2001, when he won the From Java to Bali with Love
competition -- but he missed the 2003 Java-Bali meet in Malang.

Agung usually prepares two months ahead of a competition with
a daily regimen, but that year, he received the invitation with
only two weeks left to practice.

"So I practiced every day after work until morning, from about
3 a.m. to 5 a.m. I pushed myself too hard when I was tired,
so...," he shrugged. One night, he was juggling three bottles
when two crashed in mid-air, and a small shard of glass flew into
his eye, scratching it.

"I had to get an operation on my eye and was hospitalized for
four days."

He traveled to Malang anyway, "to watch everyone's
performance".

"When I got there, my friends from Lombok, Bali, Java,
Surabaya, they all went 'what happened to you, Agung?'" He
laughs, "Then they joked, 'Well, this time we can really
compete'" -- because Agung was not.

From his humble beginnings as bar boy in 1997, he worked up
through junior bartender and to bartender, and was working at the
Hotel Shangri-La's BATS nightclub when he was scouted in 2003 by
Schneider. The Mandarin was reopening the hotel bar under a new
concept -- the Oriental -- and Agung joined the team as Bar
Master, the No. 2 bartender.

Last year, he was invited to his first IBA competition, even
though Indonesia is not an association member.

"I was sent to Excelsior Hotel Hong Kong in 2004 to train the
bar staff there, and they remembered me."

Sponsored by the JBC and the Bartender Fan Club Jakarta, an
informal network of professional and aspiring bartenders, he went
to Shanghai and placed fifth.

"But the big one is the world bartending competition in Las
Vegas held by Skyy Vodka ... the Skyy Legends." Entry is, again,
by invitation only.

And if he gets to Vegas, what then?

"Well, I want to open my own bar as a reward, and a bartending
school."

Now the vice president of the JBC, Agung is passing on his
skills and experience to a new generation of bartenders while
working to establish a national association.

As for becoming a great flairtender, he advises, "Practice,
practice, practice."

"And break as many bottles as you can," he smiled.

Agung's competition cocktail, "Bamboo", with vodka, crushed
lychee and passionfruit, and lychee and strawberry Monin syrups,
will be featured in June as a Cocktail of the Month at the
Oriental Bar.