Michael Piazza
Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli’s Bohemian Cooler 1 1⁄ 2 ounces St. Germain 3 ⁄4
ounces Sazerac rye ounces lemon juice 1 dash Angostura bitters
3 ⁄4
Ginger beer Combine first four ingredients in a highball glass over ice. Top with ginger beer. Roll to integrate.
Hospitality in His Blood
OM SCHLESINGER-GUIDELLI ’01
is a celebrity of sorts in Boston. Now general manager and wine director at a popular seafood restaurant near Fenway Park, he developed his following behind the bar, winning best bartender awards from Boston magazine, the Improper Bostonian, and the local entertainment publication, Stuff@Night. Classmates at CA won’t be surprised that his celebrity stemmed from his personality—not just from his shaken-or-stirred sleight of hand. “The mixology element is the smallest part of a bartender’s job,” he admitted. But creative cocktails certainly played a role in his success. New York magazine’s Web site features a video of Schlesinger-Guidelli mixing a seasonal punch, which pairs a rhubarb-based simple syrup with orange juice, lemon juice, gin, and Pimm’s liqueur. A 2008 article in Boston magazine describes his Le Grande Flip cocktail, saying the eggnog variant “calls for shaking a whole egg with Benedictine liqueur, applejack, and Diabolique, an infused bourbon . . . All in all, the ongoing cocktail renaissance reads like a recipe out of Mr. Boston: one part history, one part invention.” Schlesinger-Guidelli cut his foodie teeth at
the Back Eddy in Westport, Massachusetts, owned by his uncle, well-known chef Chris Schlesinger. Schlesinger-Guidelli worked there through high school and college, doing everything from bussing tables to bartending. A political science and anthropology major at Kenyon College, Schlesinger-Guidelli dug around— literally—for a career path after graduation. He spent a summer at a law firm, and went on an archaeological dig in Honduras. In fall of 2005, he began working at the Boston restaurant Eastern Standard, but returned to Honduras in 2006. “The entire time I was on the dig I was reading about food and beverage—I was focused on food and drink,” he said. He left Honduras a month early. He then worked at Eastern Standard for about three years, as bartender and assistant bar manager, then became bar manager at Craigie on Main in Cambridge, continuing to build a reputation and a following. Today, Boston’s best bartender has moved beyond the bar. Three veteran restaurateurs invited him to help build the popular Island Creek Oyster Bar; he recognized the unparalleled learning opportunity. Now his typical day includes a wide range of responsibilities, from managing reservations to ordering plates,
glasses, and utensils. He revises the “Tonight We’re Drinking” part of the menu each day and searches for little-known wines to populate the distinctive wine list. Island Creek Oyster Bar appeals to a wide audience—from business people to students from nearby Boston University. “There are some formal fine dining elements and we’re also a clam shack,” explained Schlesinger-Guidelli. “We have fried clams on the menu, but also monkfish cassoulet. It’s a really interesting blend and at times very challenging. But that’s the fun of it as well. One thing I really love about working with this group of restaurant people— there’s no challenge too big, there’s almost nothing we say no to.” The job also may prove to be the perfect springboard for someone who wants to run his own restaurant. People who know SchlesingerGuidelli seem to expect it from him, particularly with his foodie lineage. “Hospitality was instilled in me by my uncle over many, many years,” he said. He does call restaurant ownership a goal, but one without a firm timeline. “I don’t know if that’s next or one or two steps away,” he said, “but it’s something I think about regularly.” 21
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TOM SCHLESINGER-GUIDELLI ’01