06-29-2023 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 34
Best restaurants
Best Bartender
Amanda Curtis, The
Iron Bridge Wine Co.
10435 MD-108, Columbia, 410-997-3456,
ironbridgewines.com
For Amanda Curtis, bartending is about
something less tangible than mixing up a
perfectly balanced cocktail.
“Being able to do a job well done on a Friday
night when it’s really busy and everybody’s
super happy at the bar — it’s the best feeling,”
Curtis, 36, said.
Of course, she’s also an expert at shaking up
a drink.
Curtis, who calls Columbia home, grew up
in Laurel working in the restaurant industry as
a server. At The Iron Bridge Wine Company,
where she’s worked for the past six years, the
beverage menu includes new takes on reliable
favorites, like a “twisted cosmo” with elderflower for “herbaceousness” and a “gin y tonica”
presented in a red wine glass, inspired by Spanish gin and tonics that are served in “fishbowls,”
Curtis said.
But the drink Curtis most enjoys making —
and sipping — is a spicy margarita; she muddles
the jalapeño with simple syrup, prefers a blanco
tequila and adds in Grand Marnier and orange
juice.
“I just try my hardest to make sure that I’m
anticipating people’s needs and making sure
that I’m being an experience maker, and not an
order taker,” she said of working behind the bar.
Amanda Curtis, bartender at the Iron Bridge
Wine Co., chats with customer Jennifer Walker of
Sykesville. PHOTO BY KARL MERTON FERRON
THE LIST
Place to take
out-of-towners
THE ELKRIDGE FURNACE INN
Honorable mentions:
Hudson Coastal Raw Bar & Grill
The Food Market
The White OakTavern
Place to take the kids
HUDSON COASTAL
RAW BAR & GRILL
Honorable mentions:
Decadent, a Coffee and Dessert Bar
The Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar Old Ellicott City
Mikey & Mel’s Deli
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| Summer 2023 | howardmagazine.com
Seafood
Sports bar
HUDSON COASTAL
RAW BAR & GRILL
LOONEY’S PUB
Honorable mentions:
The White OakTavern
Glory Days Grill
Reckless Shepherd Brewing Co.
The Food Market
The Elkridge Furnace Inn
Xenia Greek Kouzina
Server
NICOLE SCHAEFER, THE IRON
BRIDGE WINE CO.
Honorable mentions:
Boris Bobrov,The Food Market
Jisselle Guzman, Hudson Coastal
ParrishYoung,The Elkridge Furnace Inn
Honorable mentions:
Steak
THE ELKRIDGE FURNACE INN
Honorable mentions:
The Food Market
GrillMarx Columbia Steakhouse & Raw Bar
Stanford Grill