Casino Connection Atlantic City

Trade Secrets

SCM Bartending School, LLC 6638 Delilah Road, Unit B Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234 609-484-0722

by Robert Rossiello

Whether it's a trendy night club or a laid-back local watering hole all bars have one thing in common. No, it isn't drink specials during Happy Hour, it's the people who make the drinks, the bartenders. A good bartender can turn an average night out into a memorable one. They need to be light on their feet, quick with their hands, have an encyclopedic knowledge of drink recipes and be able to deal with the drunk patron at two in the morning who wants to tell you his life story. One place that has been training people to become quality bartenders is SCM Bartending School, in Egg Harbor Township. Opened in October 2004 by partners Solange C. Mercado and John Gavrilis, the school offers a rigorous training course that will prepare students for the real world. "It's important for us to make the environment as real as possible," says John Gavrilis. "We want our students to know what to expect when they get on the job so they can deal with situations in a professional manner." To this end the school has built a large room with two long bars on either side. Each bar is equipped with three bartending stations which allow up to six students to practice comfortably. Though they don't use real alcohol, an array of bottles is lined up behind the bar with colored liquid to simulate every conceivable type of liquor. In other words, they are fully stocked. "This is the most modern facility in South Jersey," says Mercado. "When I wanted to train as a bartender I had to go to Cherry Hill." Mercado is the driving force at SCM Bartending School. She is one of the lead instructors as well as a co-owner, and oversees all facets of the school. "This job actually combines three things that I really love–teaching, bartending and business." Mercado majored in business at college. Her family is originally from the Dominican Republic, and she was raised with the importance of owning your own business. "My family raised me with the notion that the only way to reach economic independence is to go into business for yourself." Before starting the school Mercado worked in the casino industry in a number of positions. She worked at Harrah's for five years, which is where she met Gravrilis. She is no stranger to bartending and still works in the trade at The Sound of Philadelphia in the Quarter. Gravrilis still works at Harrah's as a computer technician in addition to teaching and doing promotion for SCM. He went to architecture school and designed the bar at SCM. He also bartends at private parties and functions. It is this experience working on the front line that makes the couple qualified professionals. "We get a lot of young people looking to earn enough money for college," says Gravrilis. "And we get a lot of casino workers looking for a different career path. The good thing about bartending is that you can do it part time or full time. You can make it a career or something to fall back on." SCM offers an accelerated two-week program in the evenings, Monday through Friday 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. They also offer a five week program with classes offered twice a week, in the morning or afternoon. Class times are flexible to accommidate people's work schedules. Classes average between six and ten students, which enables a lot of one-on-one training. The course begins with a complete description of a bartender's duty, such as customer relations, listening skills, problem solving and memorization. It then moves on to teach basic bar layouts, and the different tools used by bartenders for mixing and serving. The classes maintain a level of professionalism that each student can take into the field. SCM supplies students with textbooks with easy-to-use tables for drink memorization and practice. The recipes for each drink are broken down not only for ingredients but for the type of glass that is used, the method to create the drink and the proper garnish. At the end of the course students will be exposed to about 125 basic cocktails. A final exam is given that tests how fast and flawless a drink is made, as well as how students handle bottles, their presentation, cleanliness and overall performance. "If any of our students feels they need more training, they can come back anytime and use our facilities," says Gravrilis. SCM is approved by the Department of Education and the Department of Labor. It works with Job Connection so unemployed workers can get assistance with tuition and help with job placement. "Most of our students get jobs within weeks of graduation. About 70 percent are still working as professional bartenders." Those are people like Nicole Novas, who graduated in May 2005 and bartends at Harbor Pines Golf Course. Or Samantha Welsh who works at Planet Rose in the Quarter and says her training was essential to keep up in a busy bar. Or Edwin Rosales, who went from a bouncer to a bartender at Club Tru and watched his pay scale go up. "It prepared me for everything," says John Nye, who works at the River Side Inn in Mays Landing, "from how to pour the perfect ounces with speed to dealing with alcohol laws in New Jersey. There's nothing I can't do behind a bar now."

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