Eyes front for Taylor

Like many of those who appear in this monthly feature, bartender Taylor Kirk (26) has been committed to his career in hospitality for most of his working life.

Originally from Ballyclare, Taylor Kirk’s first foray into the trade was at 17, when he started work collecting glasses in the town’s Grange Bar. A year later, he moved behind the bar and was soon convinced that a career in hospitality held some promise for him.

By the age of 21, Taylor was working as a bartender in the Ballygally Castle Hotel near Larne:

“I found working in the hotel to be a lot different to my job in the bar at home”, he recalls. “But the transition went well and I really enjoyed the experience of working there, there was so much more going on.”

During quiet times, Taylor was shunted down to Belfast where he did shifts at another of Hastings’ hotels, the Europa. After a busy Christmas spent behind the bar at the Europa, he secured a bar supervisor’s position there at the age of 22.

“It was at that point that I really started to think that the hospitality trade was where I wanted to be,” he says.

Taylor was also pursuing a sports-related course at university at the time, which he went on to complete, but after a stint back at the Ballygally as duty manager, he returned to the Europa as deputy bars manager in October 2014.

“It’s a fantastic job, I really enjoy it,” he says. “There’s always something going on and it’s great because you get to meet so many different people in the Piano Bar and in the new Lobby Bar downstairs.”

As far as trends go, Taylor says he’s noticed a much greater awareness among consumers when it comes to premium spirits and cocktails:

“When I started working with cocktails, people were really only looking for common drinks, nothing terribly unusual, but nowadays, they have their own ideas, they are more knowledgeable about the products and what they want and gin-based cocktails in particular are very popular just at the moment.”

And he believes that the standard of bartending generally in NI has improved dramatically over the last four or five years:

“There are so many speakeasy-type local bars and I think Anthony Farrell has done a great job with the places that he’s opened around Belfast. Anyone coming into the city for drink now will never be short of places to go.”

He believes that the trade in Northern Ireland is currently well ahead of its counterparts in Dublin and, in some quarters, nipping on the heels of the London scene. That perception has been boosted, he says, by the Year of Food and Drink and its focus on the use of fresh, local ingredients. That’s a trend which Hastings Hotels has done its best to promote and fresh herbs from the group’s own garden are used in cocktails in the hotels’ bars.

Taylor admits to enjoying a gin and tonic or a glass of red wine when he’s out on the town himself, although he does indulge in the odd cocktail aswell.

“My ultimate ambition is probably to own my own place,” he admits. “I’d really like to go as far as I can in hospitality. I’ve been learning a lot here at the Europa from people like James McGinn (GM) and Raymond Duncan (deputy GM), who are very supportive. That’s one of the great things about working here, there is always someone willing to help you with any questions that you have.”

Taylor recommends:

Rademon & Mourne Cocktail

Ingredients:

50ml Shortcross Gin

15ml lemon juice

Egg white

Honey

Rosemary

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a shaker over ice, vigorously shake then double strain into a champagne bowl and add garnish.