Who | Jess Nevalainen
Where | Hudson, Wisconsin, USA
Current Bar | AGAVE KITCHEN
Past Bar(s) | Broz Sports Bar and Grill (River Falls, WI), Pier 500 (Hudson, WI), Phoenix Grill and Event Center (Baldwin, WI) Coach’s Sports Bar and Grill, TRIO Live (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Favourite Spirit | Tequila, Always.
Favourite Juice | Olive Juice
Favourite Classic Cocktail | Dirty Martini
Favourite Part of the Job | Simple: The energy. I love being in a fast paced yet fun career.
Favourite After Work Drink | Tequila shots
Favourite at Home Drink | Malbec
Favourite bar in the world | City Oyster and Sushi Bar (Delray Beach, FL) or Grand Catch (Saint Paul, MN). How can an industry person choose one?
Best known for | My HUGE smile (oh and my ability to kill negativity with condescending kindness).
Favourite “at work” memory | My favorite “at work” memory would have been New Years Eve 2014. I was working with a dear friend of mine, Randi, and we were getting absolutely slaughtered. At one point during the evening when we were 4 deep all the way around the bar so we looked at each other and burst out laughing. We knew that no matter what we did we would never catch up. I shouted across to her asking if she wanted to stop everything we were doing to take a shot of tequila and of course she said yes. After that we continued to go about our night having so much fun rather than stressing about the inevitable. We were busy, we were drowning, and there was no changing that.
What do you collect? Parking tickets.
Favourite thing about your city? I love the small town vibe. I enjoy seeing familiar faces and feeling like I am part of a community. I love being able to have continuing conversations with guests over multiple visits about their personal lives. I also enjoy what we call the “Bartender Mafia” (Credit to Mike Myers for the nomenclature) of River Falls and Hudson, WI. All of our service industry staff are extremely close regardless of which establishment we work at. We all lif t up and support each other and it is truly amazing.
What was the last photo that you took? A selfie with a coworker at AGAVE KITCHEN.
Where is one place that you have never been but would like to travel to? Dubrovnik, Croatia
Any claims to fame? I have an above humanlike tolerance and appreciation for tequila shots.
Prosecco or Cava? Prosecco
Angostura or Peychaud’s? Angostura
Singapore or San Francisco? Singapore
Grapefruit or Pineapple? Grapefruit
Are you available for freelance gigs? Always.
Find them: Instagram