Former Southern Breeze Cover Model Excels.
By Mark A. Newman - photography by C. Ross
As many of you may remember, our Spring 2008 issue was the debut of the Southern Breeze Hot List as well as the first time we featured a person on the cover. That person was Daniel Victory, a master mixologist at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, whom we felt exemplified the spirit of the Crescent City and its people. Daniel was a good luck charm because the newsstand sales for that particular issue were well over 90%--a rarity in the magazine world to be sure.
For the second year in a row, Daniel was selected to compete in the GQ Magazine/Bombay Sapphire “Most Inspired Bartender” competition and this year, he is bringing home the 4th place prize. After making it to the semi-finals, he was flown to Las Vegas and his Courtyard Cooler cocktail came in 4th out of 41 semi-finalists. Since there were over 1,200 entries this year, Daniel was honored to be selected much less come in fourth place. He will be featured in the December 2009 issue of GQ Magazine.
But Daniel is not just a “pretty face;” he has been appointed to the position of Mixologist for The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, where he first started working in 2000, when it originally opened. An expert at his craft, aside from Southern Breeze, Daniel has been featured in the New York Post, Washington Post, GQ, Gambit Weekly, The Times-Picayune and for the second year in a row, he is a finalist in Bombay Sapphire’s Most Inspired Bartender competition. A member of the USBG (United States Bartending Guild), Daniel offers instruction to aspiring bartenders at the Crescent City School of Bartending when he’s not behind the bar.
However, if you can’t wait for the December GQ, you can meet Daniel and taste some of his out-of-this-world creations at the Davenport Lounge on the third floor lobby level of The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans. Also be sure to look for one of Daniel’s signature cocktail recipes in an upcoming “Last Call” column in a future Southern Breeze.
Of course, we at Southern Breeze are in no way taking credit for “launching” Daniel’s lauded career, but we do pride ourselves on spotting talent when we see it!
southern breeze spring 2008 cover
Picked by Mark A. Newman
Like Clark Kent's transformation into Superman, Ritz-Carlton mixer Daniel Victory shows his New Orleans pride with one of many pro-NOLA T-shirts available at Dirty Coast, 5704 Magazine St. or www.dirtycoast.com.
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