We’re in the midst of a campaign to find LA’s best bartender - contest.table20.com. Our goal is to find LA’s best by having you tell us who your favorite bartenders are.

We’d like to make the process of submitting your favorite barkeep as simple as possible. So for a limited time you can leave a comment in this blog post telling us who you like, why, and immediately get a chance to be 1 of 10 people to win “How to Booze: Exquisite Cocktails and Unsound Advice”

In addition, at the end of the contest you’ll have a shot at winning a $275 LA Entertainment Package which includes the following:

• • dinner for four at Lazy Ox Canteen
• • dinner for two at Takami Sushi Robata & Restaurant
• • tickets for two to the post-contest party - there will be 25 randomly drawn ticket winners

Enter in two steps.

1. Leave a comment below with the following info about your favorite bartender.

• • first name (full name if possible)
• • place of work (name and location)
• • why they deserve to be named LA’s Best Bartender

2. Then retweet or Share through Facebook “I nominated my favorite LA bartender and got a chance to win ‘How to Booze: Exquisite Cocktails and Unsound Advice’ http://bit.ly/9qcWk1″

Then we’ll jet out to their bar to let them know how much you appreciate them and take their picture for their official entry into the contest.

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Your contest entry will be invalid if we are unable to take a picture of your bartender  or if someone else submits your favorite bartender to our contest site before we can get your entry loaded to the site.

Vetting Phase
At the end of the 30-day nomination and voting period the top nominees, by number of votes, will be vetted to ensure they exist, are employed and are interested in participating further.

The top 25 nominees, following the vetting process, will win a custom designed Table 20 t-shirt. The top nominees will be announced via the Table 20 blog.

Finalist Selection Phase
Following the vetting phase, the top vote getter will be named the People’s Choice winner and be automatically included as a finalist.

The judges will each select a bartender to be a finalist from the remaining 24 nominees.  A judge can make their decision based on the why the bartender was nominated, comments attributed, number of votes, and personal experience. Each of the five judges will choose one nominee for a total of five judge-selected finalists.

This phase will result in 6 finalists – 5 judge selected and 1 People’s Choice winner.

Consideration Phase
Table 20 will contact the six finalists for interviews. Judges may visit bartenders to meet, interview and sample a drink.

Winner Selection Phase
The judges, using a ranking system will select the winner of the contest; the aggregated rankings of the judges will determine the overall winner of the contest.

The winner and finalists will be featured on the Table 20 and LA Sates blog.

We’ve created this t-shirt as a special prize for our upcoming Service Props contest. The top nominees from the contest will win this t-shirt. The finalists and winners will win a bunch other cool stuff too.

We’re most proud of this prize because it’s a one-of-a-kind design depicting the day-to-day restaurant and bar industry experience.  We put a lot of thought and effort into it - we hope you appreciate it too.

Printed on American Apparel t-shirt. Designed by Chris Piascik, conceived and directed by Trevor Smith.

This version of Table 20 has been 2 years in the making. We’re glad that it’s finally going to get a workout.

This is just our soft opening. We need a little time to work out the kinks in the system: typos, missing pages, page errors, programming ghosts . . . before the GRAND OPENING.

While we get up to speed we’ve kicked in a few incentives to get you on board.

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EMPLOYERS

Take advantage of our Los Angeles soft opening promotions.

The Good Offer: Sign-up today to receive 3 free ad credits for future use – that’s a $75 value.

The Great Offer: Sign-up and post one job ad by August 15, 2010 to receive 6 free ad credits for future use – that’s a $150 value.

More details here

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JOB SEEKERS

Try things out with no commitment.

Sign up and create a profile by August 15, 2010 and receive 6 weeks of free premium membership

There are only a few job ads posted right now - more are coming – we’re just getting started.

More details here

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Enjoy!

It took us a while to find just the right person to honor with the first Service Props in Los Angeles. This person is after all, setting the tone for what will be a distinguished list of the best service industry professionals in the city. He or she has to represent the best of the best, be a shining example of great work ethic, creativity, persistence, motivation and of course an unrelenting commitment to service.

We found all those qualities and more in Jose Mocetezuma, General Manager at Bar Celona in Pasadena CA . . .

We sat down with Jose, well actually we stood while he simultaneously, answered our questions, prepared the restaurant for service, and resolved a major plumbing issue; we told you he was good.

Jose struck me as someone who achieves anything he sets his mind to do – an aggressive go-getter, he inspires confidence. The kind of guy you want by your side on a Saturday night with a new hostess, short a bartender, with broken dishwasher and a cook who’s just cut a finger; calm under pressure.

When asked how he got into the restaurant industry:
Jose’s restaurant career began as a busboy in the nightclubs of Cancun. By 1994 he was ready for college, so he moved to Los Angeles and immediately began looking for a job in the restaurant industry.

One of the stops on his job hunt was a Pasadena restaurant; he grabbed an application and asked when he could talk to a manager. The next day he was back, app in hand and ready for a meeting.

During the interview when asked, “Why should I hire you” Jose responded, “Give me one chance, I’ll be good for the company.” he was hired on the spot.

That restaurant was Smith Brothers’ Crocodile Café and that manager was David Ficklen. Years later David would call on Jose again to head up the brand new Bar Celona in Pasadena.

Jose credits his expertise and success to some of the best owners, chefs and managers in the industry. It’s a pretty impressive list, Bob and Gregg Smith from Smith Brothers Restaurants, Mary Sue, Susan Feniger owners of Cuidad, and Border Grill, Hugo Molina, previously Spanish Kitchen and Parkway Grill, now Seta, Jack & Karen Huang owners of Wok N Roll, Bar Celona, Sorriso, IX Tapa Cantina, Josef Centeno, creator of the new Bar Celona menu, now owner of Lazy Ox Canteen, and of course his first mentor David Ficklen, now GM at Sushi Roku, Pasadena.

He has great respect for each of his mentors. Heck we have lots of respect and admiration and we don’t know them like he does.

When asked what he likes most about the industry:

Jose likes that the industry offers many opportunities to learn and there is no limit to what you can achieve. He also mentioned to us what sounded like a super power; the ability to make people smile. He says “One smile, one drink, one complimentary word may be all it takes to make someone smile and feel special.” What a guy!

In his position as GM, Jose also enjoys the opportunity to give back to the community. He freely offers a fully staffed bar each month for the Pink Slip Mixer networking event. The Bar Celona held event is a welcome break for job seekers looking for work in a down economy. The participants can network, trade ideas and share experiences. He’s happy to help them get through a tough time and to do all he can to make them smile.

Bar Celona also participates in the annual Parkway Grill Food and Wine Festival to benefit the Center for Trauma Care at Huntington Hospital.

When asked for his best service tip:
Jose believes that service industry people should strive for perfection and provide consistent reliable service that customers can depend on. That’s a foundation any successful business can build upon.

Thanks again to Jose for taking the time to chat with us.

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Do you know someone great that deserves Service Props? Just send their name, place of work, a pic and why they rock in an email message to “trevor at table20 dot com”. Inspired by Chef Crush. Spread the love!

Next week we’re launching the first LA Service Props profile here at Table 20.

It took a while to find the right person to set the tone for Service Props, but Dan Cox led us in the right direction. That dude knows a little (a lot of) something about the restaurant industry and people in LA.

We intend for this to be the first of many Service Props for the people who make you smile when you go out to eat & drink in LA. It’s not just about the food it’s also about the people.

I encourage all the foodie paparazzi out there to occasionally raise your camera from that plate or cocktail and point it at the guy or gal that made it, served it or cleared it away. You’ll love the smiles you get from the appreciation.

Spread the love!

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Do you know someone great that deserves Service Props? Just send their name, place of work, a pic and why they rock in an email message to “trevor at table20 dot com”. Inspired by Chef Crush.