San Francisco, 2012 Jan 08
On Sunday, January 8, Speed Rack hit the City by the Bay for our first stop on the Speed Rack tour in 2012, and boy did we start the year with a bang! Held at Brick & Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco’s historic Mission neighborhood, 18 ladies from Northern California vied for the top eight spots as they faced off in the preliminaries. The competition was extremely intense, as women from the best bars and restaurants in the Bay Area brought their A game.
With a line down the block, doors opened to the public at 3pm and guests were treated to sponsors’ punches and cocktails, as well as beer and gourmet sandwiches from Beretta. Host Erick Castro kept the show running as DJ Ryan Fitzgerald (also the bar manager at Beretta) had the house rocking in between rounds and set a high-energy mood by spinning fun songs for each bout.
In front of a packed house of over 300 people, the competition began. Judges included locals Debbie Zachareas (Parner/Owner of Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant and Oxbow Wine & Cheese), Charlotte Voisey (William Grant Portfolio Ambassador), Camper English (Alcademics.com) and New York bar owner Julie Reiner (Clover Club, Lani Kai), who many don’t know got her start in the business in San Francisco. The round began with the judges each calling out a drink for the girls to make. The contestants had to make the drinks as quickly – and as accurately – as possible. The judges then compared the girls’ drinks side by side and issued penalty seconds to the girls for any mistakes made. The girl with the lowest time was declared the winner and moved on to the next round.
In one of the most high energy and well-attended of Speed Rack events so far, $7,300 was raised for breast cancer research, education and prevention – the highest grossing event to date!
Full list of competitors:
Brooke Arthur - Ho Wing
Claire Sprouse - Rickhouse
Gabrielle Barnes - Cantina
Gail Izaguirre, - Laszlo
Jennifer Ackrill- Rye
Jennifer Colliau - Slanted Door/Small Hands Foods
Jessica Maria - Hotsy Totsy Club
Jill Webster - Lazlo
Keli Rivers - Hotsy Totsy
Kim Rosselle - Flora/ Dona Tomas
Lauren Steele - Rickhouse/Bourbon and Branch
Lucia Creed Gonzales - Prizefighter
Melissa Boyd - Beretta
Rhachel Shaw - Rye
Tina Ross - Rickhouse
Yael Amyra - The New Easy
Sponsors
National Sponsors
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Regional Sponsors
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Comments
I want to vote for Kelli Rivers from SF to be in the wild card slot for the NY finals!
Thanks