Rituparna Chatterjee – Panaji
With a view to improve bar service in Goa, Tito’s, one of the most recognised names among night clubs in India, opened Tito’s Bar Academy in the former Portuguese colony in August last year to provide professional bartending education. Since its opening, the academy has been training bartenders across all of Tito’s outlets and is currently planning to train bartenders of other bar outlets as well. Elaborating on this, Artem Klyenko, bar consultant, Tito’s Bar Academy said, “The academy opened in August 2014. For six to seven months we have been training all bartenders of Tito’s and presently two-three of our outlets have already shown positive results. We are now looking at training outside people.”
Those who are fluent in English and have attained the legal drinking age can attend the training. The course is priced at Rs 25,000 for 180 hours (approximately 2.5 months). He added, “Our trainers have 12 years of experience across some of the best bars and clubs across the world. Students here are trained in subjects like history of beverage, mixology, hygiene behind the bar and personal hygiene, how to talk to customers, etc. The course also includes practical work like how to mix drinks, how to choose proper ingredients, etc. Upon course completion graduates receive a certificate of the international level.” Apart from professional bartending education, Tito’s Bar Academy also provides consulting services to bars, restaurants, clubs and other entertainment venues.
Speaking about the bar industry in Goa, Klyenko opined, “During my travels I have seen proper bars and bartenders. But when I came to Goa, I found that the bars here need improvement in their service quality by undergoing training at academies like us.”