Tobin Ellis, bar consultant and award-winning bartender, led a 60 minute seminar on "Inside Out Bar Design" at this years Nightclub and Bar Show in Las Vegas. Ellis shared his thoughts on a different approach to hospitality design that his company has been an advocate of for more than a decade that takes a "function before form" approach to restaurant and bar design. His company, BarMagic of Las Vegas, designs bars, hotel bars, restaurants, and other hospitality concepts all over the world. Ellis explained to the more than 50 attendees, mostly bar owners and operators from as far off as New Zealand and Australia, some of the key mistakes operators make with architects, general contractors, and interior designers as well as winning strategies for bar design and operational design. BarMagic is currently developing and supervising the construction of three unique beverage concepts in the United States, directly on the heels of opening five more full-service restaurants with fresh beverage programs for a national client in 2012. For more information on BMLV's bar design services, visit our Concept Development page.

BMLV's Tobin Ellis and Kate Gerwin joined with L.A. Mixologist Julian Cox in a seminar during Hawaii Cocktail Week on Bar Design and Operations for the Craft Cocktail Revolution. The trio of experts shared inside tips, strategies and systems they use to manage bars in New Mexico, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and beyond. Ellis has been traveling the world speaking on bar design and beverage operations since the late 1990s and continues to be a tastemaker and trendsetter in bar design and high-volume craft cocktail operations. Gerwin, a certified sommelier turned mixologist and bar owner who worked under Helen Turley, joined BarMagic in 2012 and brought her operational experience to the discussion. Together, the duo successfully opened five high-volume restaurants with all-fresh, craft-cocktail beverage programs in three states in just four months span.

BarMagic of Las Vegas will be conducting another in its series of hands-on workshops on Technical Freepouring at Hawaii Cocktail Week this Wednesday, February 20th. BMLV's Tobin Ellis and Kate Gerwin will teach a group of 30 bartenders the age-old but misunderstood art and skill of accurate, fast technical freepouring that has all but shattered the "jigger myth" in the past two years. BMLV are the foremost experts in the world in this technique, having championed it for the past twenty years at a very high level all over the world. Ellis won multiple freepouring competitions at the regional, national and world levels between 1996 and 2005 and is one of the few world mixology champions to have previously worked behind some of the busiest restaurant and nightclub bars in the world including Tavern on the Green on Central Park, Sequoia in Georgetown, and PURE Nightclub in Las Vegas.

BarMagic principal Tobin Ellis and trainer Kate Gerwin will be guest bartending alongside BMLV almun Christian Self during Hawaii Cocktail Week at Thirtynine Hotel this Wednesday evening, making craft cocktails with Kai Spirits that will include a Kai Lychee and Orange Olio Saccrum punch, and a Pandan Coconut Thai Basil Gimlet. Ellis and Self revamped the entire beverage program and nine bars of the famous five-diamond, 233 year old Greenbrier Resort in 2007 and reunited to open the Marriott/Ian Schrager EDITION Hotel in Waikiki in 2010 that featured an all fresh classic and contemporary cocktail program boasting drinks like a deconstructed Pyrat XO Mai Tai and fresh Watermelon-Aperol-Jalapeño Margarita. BMLV was part of a 2011 Hotelchatter.com award for "Best Hotel Opening" for their work at EDITION and went on to open the Istanbul EDITION shortyl thereafter. Self manages the chinatown cocktail and DJ-centric hotspot "Thirtynine Hotel" for which he has pulled down numerous awards including "Best Bartender," "Best Late Night Bar," and "Best Ambiance." Ellis and Self are rumored to be working together again soon on another project in Hawaii, the details of which have not yet been disclosed.

Bar Design expert Tobin Ellis will be speaking and demonstrating the fundamentals of intelligent bar design for three days during the NAFEM show in Orlando, Florida. NAFEM is the largest restaurant equipment show in America held once every two years and features representatives from both restaurant supply companies and major hotel, chain, and casino operators. Ellis has been speaking on bar design for five years and his company has been building, rebuilding and opening successful award-winning bars all over the world since 1997.

It has been a busy summer and fall for the BMLV team as they have traveled the country helping develop, design, program, train, and open eight different bars between July and October, all with fresh cocktail programs. Led by veteran bar consultant Tobin Ellis, the team of seven bar trainers and design specialists opened five full-service restaurants with fresh craft cocktail and craft beer programs in Kentucky, Georgia, and Texas while developing, designing and supervising the construction of three more concepts in Bismarck, North Dakota. BarMagic specializes in high-volume bar design and concept development as well as ongoing management for select clients around the country. BarMagic has been involved in hospitality development and management projects such as these since 1998 all over the world.

BarMagic and Jimmy's of Aspen open the world's smallest speakeasy today during the annual Aspen Food & Wine Classic at Jimmy's Restaurant. The 9x12 space will be the world's smallest bar serving classic cocktails including stirred negronis, French 75s, and other cocktails, all in micro-sized portions. The concept was a collaboration between famed Aspen restaurateur and former barman Jimmy Yeager and BMLV principal Tobin Ellis that was several years in the making. For three nights, a very special list of VIP guests and friends will be given 20 minutes inside the smallest cocktail bar on the planet.

The 2012 Domain de Canton Bartender of the Year West Coast Regional Qualifiers were held today and BMLV's Tobin Ellis rounded out an expert panel of judges that includes Drew Levinson (Wirtz Beverage) and Andrew Pollard (Vesper Bar, Cosmopolitan). Winners of the regional competitions will be flown to St. Maartin to compete in the World Finals and a grand prize of $10,000. Ellis will be emcee'ing the world finals and has been a judge in previous years' competitions.