A Saucy welcome to Ted Charak, Brasserie’s new bar manager. Charak has been tending bar since 1993, primarily in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., and has recently returned to his native St. Louis.
In 2006, Charak and a business partner opened craft cocktail bar Teardrop Lounge, which remains a popular bar in Portland. The concept for Teardrop, said Charak, was “to bring the kitchen to the bar,” and included making numerous products in-house such as tonic water, ginger beer, grenadine, bitters, liqueurs, vermouth and Falernum. Charak is also a founding member of the Oregon Bartender’s Guild.
Among his many duties behind the bar, Charak will be responsible for writing Brasserie’s cocktail menu. When the new menu goes up in September, look for interesting French spins on vintage cocktails, playful homemade ingredients like Mexican pineapple soda and the use of a few new-to-the-market liquors.
Charak replaces Michelle Bildner, who is leaving the CWE bistro to attend graduate school. Bildner has been tending bar for the last 10 years. She worked at Monarch prior to coming on board at Brassiere when the restaurant opened last year.
This article appears in Jul 1-31, 2010.