Quite often for this column, I will wander into a bar and simply strike up a conversation with a bartender -- a process which has led to some great stories. But every now and then, it's all laid out for me and I have a bartender suggested by a reader or someone in the industry. This week's bartender was recommended not by one but by two separate sources within days of each other, so I knew I had to make time to sit down and talk with Nas Mirizadeh at Triniti.

Good thing, too, because Triniti always seemed a little out of my wheelhouse. Beautiful places with tasting menus aren't typically where I go to hang out at the bar. But Nas and the awesome bar menu at Triniti have since shown me the error of my ways.

I sat down and ordered the classic Martinez, which Nas was quick to inform me may have very well been the precursor to the Martini.

Where did you get your start?

I was a bar back at Yelapa. I had done other things in the restaurant industry and I was pretty tired of it. Just kind of, you know...I don't want to be in the food industry anymore. But they needed a bar back and I thought, well that sounds cool. I remember my first day -- we were cutting limes, and I didn't know how to cut limes. I cut my finger open. It was the first day of soft opening and I had my finger bleeding everywhere and I'm running around. Once I got through that day, I knew I was gonna be okay. Bartenders started leaving and I said, "I know how to do that!" The other bartenders and the chefs there were good and I learned a lot.

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Photos by Joshua Justice

Joe Stark of Brasserie 19

Finding a bartender for this week's article proved far harder than usual. After visiting three bars in a row manned by -- in this order -- a bar back, a first-day waitress and, finally, no one at all, I began to wonder if I had finally succeeded in my goal to drink Houston dry. In a last-ditch effort, I wandered down Montrose headed to nowhere in particular, when I remembered a Tweet from Brasserie 19 chef Amanda McGraw earlier this week touting a plate of foie gras-topped fries.

I decided that if no one was going to make me a drink, I was at least determined to damage my cholesterol. I swung a right onto West Gray and headed to the polished, white marble bar of the River Oaks eatery.

What I found -- aside from McGraw's awesome plate of fries -- was a hidden gem in longtime bartender Joe Stark. While happy to talk shop, he insisted I not let my snack grow cold while talking to him -- so he politely poured me a drink and waited while I inhaled the plate with abandon.

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Photos by Joshua Justice

Longtime local favorite Haven is no stranger to talent in the kitchen or behind the bar. With the recent departure of Aaron Lara and Zach Adams -- both of whom are now behind the bar at the newly opened Pass & Provisions -- Haven has restocked the bar, so to speak, with a new crop of talent including Sheridan Fay. Fay is also a member of the staff at tequila hot spot El Gran Malo. We stopped in to talk to her about the goings-on at Haven, including the upcoming raw bar project.

When I asked for something seasonal, a hallmark of the Haven concept, Sheridan quickly plonked down a spicy cocktail based on Leopold Brothers Apple Whiskey tinged with cinnamon and allspice. The drink was a perfect match for the rare brisk Houston afternoon.

With drink in hand, we got down to business.

First things first: How long have you been working behind the bar?

That's like asking a lady's age! I'd say it's been about seven years since I made that first Crown and Coke.

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Amy Singletary at J. Black's is a fast-moving, fast-talking bartender with a friendly smile and plenty of stories.

At J. Black's Feel Good Lounge, bartender Amy Singletary -- whose last name is spelled just like that of Minnesota Vikings linebacker coach Mike Singletary -- says she gets asked all the time if she's related to the famous football player. (Amy is white; Mike is black.) "I'm like, what does it look like?" she laughs, before adding in a perfunctory "Go Bears!"

Are you from Houston originally?

Yes. Born here, raised in Georgia. I've been back since my junior year of high school, which was two years ago. [Singletary laughs, as she's already admitted to being 30 years old.] I ended up back in Clear Lake.

So how long have you been bartending?

Around ten years. I cocktailed when I was 18 and then started bartending.

Where were you before you were here at J. Black's?

[Singletary pauses for a second in contemplation.] 55. I've worked at 20 bars, so I'm trying to go in order. I've worked at Pub Fiction, Front Porch, Escobar, Maple Leaf...

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Zach Adams of The Pass & Provisions.

This week we asked readers who they'd like to see profiled in upcoming editions of Bartender Chat. Zach Adams was not only mentioned multiple times, he also happens to be working behind the bar at The Pass & Provisions, which just opened. A new chef-driven concept from Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan, the restaurant occupies the former Gravitas space on Taft.

We talked to Adams on the eve of the restaurant's big debut.

Softball to start: How long have you been bartending?

About ten months. I was working at Haven. Justin Burrow and Aaron Lara, who is the bar manager at Pass & Provisions now, were tending bar, and it made sense to me to get back there with them and learn. I didn't get to work with Justin for as long as I would have liked, but just learning basic technique from him and how to set up and maintain a bar provided me with the foundation needed to build upon.

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Photo by Joshua Justice

Lindsay Heffron is headed to Las Vegas soon to rep Houston in one of the country's most important cocktail competitions.

It doesn't take long to notice that Liberty Station is a lot like Houston itself.

Like the city, the little bar housed in an old filling station is many things to many people -- and it really does have to be visited and explored to get a feel for it. Functioning as an art gallery space, a cocktail hotspot, a craft beer bar and a plain old neighborhood hangout, it offers something for everyone.

Liberty boasts an ever-growing tap wall -- including a cask engine -- as well as an excellent selection of beers in the cooler. What's more, Liberty also has a rotating menu of seasonal cocktails. These cocktails -- along with word that bartender Lindsay Heffron had recently won Bombay Sapphire and GQ's regional cocktail competition -- brought us in to Liberty Station for a chat.

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Photos by Joshua Justice

Real Ale's Scots Gone Wild Ale

The name seems almost inescapable this year: Hay Merchant. The eight-month-old bar, seated on the curve of Westheimer just West of Montrose, has been described as everything from a new trend in bars to Houston's Mecca for beer to snobbish and inaccessible. It's strange that a place specializing in something as egalitarian as beer would be so wildly polarizing, but you really do have to visit Hay Merchant to see what it's really all about.

I had the luck to stop into Hay Merchant the very same day that Underbelly, which shares its space and kitchen with Hay Merchant, was serving a beer dinner in collaboration with Blanco, Texas brewers Real Ale. This gave me unfettered access to some rare and unique beers from one of the very best brewers in Texas.

On bartender Stewart's recommendation, I started with the Scots Gone Wild. A Sour Ale, Scots is Real Ale's Wee Heavy Ale fermented with wild yeast strains. With drink in hand, we got to business.

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Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

Coppa Italian Ristorante had very large shoes to fill when it opened in the old Catalan space. From its dramatic yet understated decor to Chef Brandi Key's fresh take on familiar Italian classics, Coppa seems to be forging its own way in the world quite nicely. I stopped in early on a Sunday afternoon to talk with Shea Cooper behind the bar.

The first thing that caught my eye was a set of three oak barrels sitting on the bar top. On Shea's recommendation, I chose the Hudson Whiskey-based "Catcher in the Rye" cocktail.

Drink in hand, we got down to business.

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Now over ten years old, The Flying Saucer downtown is not only one of Houston's longest-standing craft beer bars, it also has stood long enough to see myriad other bars come and go in its wake. I am lucky enough to live less than a mile away from Flying Saucer, and when I first moved downtown, it was one of my regular haunts.

With the new beer bar boom going strong, I found myself remiss in staying away from The Saucer so long. I stopped in on an early afternoon to talk to bartender Brady Conine about the bar and his views on beer in Texas.

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Photo by Joshua Justice

Boston ex-pat Chris mans the bar at The Refinery

Sitting in the shadow of the Pierce Elevated just west of downtown, The Refinery, at 702 Dallas, is one of the newest bars in town. With the bar still in the midst of construction, a carpenter was laying down the beginnings of a large patio out front while I polished off The Refinery's Texamex burger. After finishing up my burger and wings, I met bartender Chris Barrier on a rainy evening to talk shop.

The Refinery has an admirable lineup of local beers on tap, but I wanted to try something from the touted whiskey selection. The Maker's Mark Old Fashioned Chris whipped up served as an excellent example. My drink in hand, we got down to business.

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