Remembering Bar Business Veteran Chris Patino

Chris Patino was beloved within the bar world. This was evident throughout his closing public look at the newest Bartender’s Weekend, the San Diego-based commerce occasion he co-founded. It was technically an occasion for Teremana, the tequila he helped develop by his brand-building firm Easy Serve. The second Patino arrived, the packed crowd inside Swan Bar’s cozy neighborhood confines burst into joyful tear-streaked whooping, giving solution to rhythmic chants of “Patino! Patino!” in a sing-song meter often reserved for celebrity athletes. It was bittersweet.

Patino handed away on Friday, October 18 after a four-year battle with pancreatic most cancers. His intensive checklist of achievements confirms his stamp on the bar trade. Patino was a frequent host of the favored cocktail competitors Pace Rack, a World’s 50 Greatest Bar decide, and accomplice of San Diego bar Raised by Wolves. He was additionally an award-winning model ambassador and mentor largely credited with constructing New Orleans’ cocktail group.

Above all, Patino was beloved by many.

“Chris was all coronary heart and will make anybody really feel like crucial individual on this planet,” says Neal Bodenheimer, accomplice of the New Orleans bar Treatment. “Chris created group wherever he went. That’s simply who he was, a connector of individuals, and a pal that at all times had your again whether or not you talked daily or yearly.”

Patino was identified to uplift and help the bartending group. 

“I believe that probably the most impactful issues about Chris was his want to assist folks discover the greatness in themselves,” says Erin Hayes, bar guide and co-founder of the Black Lagoon bar pop-up. “He watched as I took steps ahead in my profession and was at all times fast to say congratulations, but in addition made positive to say that he was happy with my accomplishments.”

Portland-based bartender, author, and bar guide Jeffrey Morgenthaler credit Patino for connecting him to a life-changing task. 

“Chris devoted his profession to serving to bartenders, and for that, I will likely be eternally grateful,” says Morgenthaler. “It was this generosity that led him to me for a particular challenge a few years in the past, a challenge that allowed me to lastly be capable of afford to purchase a house. And I’ll always remember him for that.”

Patino’s magnetic persona and love for the drinks group made him a pure match to emcee large-scale cocktail occasions.  

“Chris was the primary iconic host of Pace Rack, and he was a pure onstage,” says Lynnette Marrero, Pace Rack co-founder. “He had a band again in San Diego, so when he was up there, he knew command a stage, however in a approach that didn’t heart on him. It at all times centered on the competing bartenders.”

Those that knew Patino effectively additionally noticed him as a faithful household man who was a continuing help for his spouse Heather and their three kids. “It ought to be talked about that to know Chris was to understand how a lot he beloved Heather,” says Anne Louise Marquise, commerce advocacy lead at Campari America. “They have been a real partnership and an inspiration to me. They nonetheless are.”

As Patino battled most cancers, he refused to set his beloved trade apart. He used his journey as a tentpole to assist others. He served on the advisory council for the trade nonprofit One other Spherical One other Rally and established a program that provided monetary support for hospitality staff immediately confronted with a most cancers prognosis. 

“The a part of his life that impressed me probably the most was how he took on his battle with most cancers,” says Simon Ford, founding father of Ford’s Gin and Patino’s former boss at Pernod-Ricard. “He continued to supply for his household and churn out much more nice work. I nonetheless don’t fairly understand how he did it.”

Patino leaves behind an enormous legacy inside up to date cocktail tradition. 

“You take a look at Chris, and also you see that he was a lynchpin at so many key factors of the fashionable craft cocktail renaissance,” says Erick Castro, Patino’s accomplice in Raised by Wolves and Bartender’s Weekend. “I do really feel like he had so many extra necessary issues nonetheless forward of him to do, and that’s why it’s such a devastating loss to the trade as an entire.”

Patino’s true influence won’t essentially be his work or his skilled achievements. Will probably be the individual he was.

“My life would look utterly totally different if it wasn’t for Chris taking me below his wing,” says Jesse Peterson, who co-founded Patino’s Pickle Barrel Bitters along with her long-time pal. “Patino selflessly poured himself into others by being caring, sincere, and passionate. By his unimaginable battle with most cancers, he stayed robust and resilient, and he was nonetheless the sunshine within the room. As gracious and humble as he was, he was simply as humorous and enjoyable. The get together at all times adopted him.”