Banjo
10-04-2010, 12:23 PM
http://brewpublic.com/beer-personalities/interview-with-publican-jim-parker/
By Frank James
If you’ve been around the Portland pub scene during the last decade, it’s likely that you are familiar with Jim Parker. You may know him well, or, like this writer initially, you may have simply been aware of the slender, mustachioed man in perpetual motion at the Concordia Ale House or Oaks Bottom or the Green Dragon and wondered how he could, like the Energizer Bunny, keep going and going and going, never slowing down. I met Jim when he was at the Oaks Bottom Public House in Sellwood. I frequented that neighborhood because the Sellwood Dog Park was a short distance away, and I got in the nice habit of stopping by for a beer and a bowl of their delicious chili. I’d amuse myself as I watched Jim bounce between the bar and the kitchen and the restaurant’s tables, pouring beers or serving hot dishes or busing tables, all the while punctuating his efforts with that unforgettable, boisterous laugh. And then, amazingly and suddenly, he might sit down at your table and take five minutes to describe two or three beer options that might fit your particular tastes. And then he’d pop right back up and get back to the floor and his constant, incredibly efficient motion. Sometimes, I got tired just watching him. For several years, he was seemingly everywhere around town where good beer was being poured, right in the middle of the action. But then, like a benevolent, publican version of Keyser Soze, the “The Usual Suspects” mystery man, Jim Parker just disappeared. Poof! And I wondered… What the heck happened to Jim Parker? Well, he obviously had not fallen off the edge of the earth. In fact, he’d just relocated a few hours north to Bellingham, Washington. With the help of this blog’s founder, Angelo, I was able to get in touch with Jim and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about beer, brewpubs, the Green Dragon and the bar business, generally, in his remarkably candid, informative and engaging way.
What are you doing in Bellingham?
Jim Parker : Right now I am a bartender at Bayou’s Oyster Bar, a new addition to an existing Cajun/Creole restaurant in Bellingham. As the name implies, the focus is on fresh-shucked local oysters.
Is it similar to the kinds of things you were doing in Portland?
JP: It’s similar in the fact that it is serving people tasty adult beverages, but the bar only has four taps, so the focus is not on beer. Actually my last two bartending gigs have been more focused on cocktails than beer. It’s a bit of a departure, but I have been interested in distilling and cocktails for several years now.
How do you like life in Bellingham?
Read More Here (http://brewpublic.com/beer-personalities/interview-with-publican-jim-parker/)
By Frank James
If you’ve been around the Portland pub scene during the last decade, it’s likely that you are familiar with Jim Parker. You may know him well, or, like this writer initially, you may have simply been aware of the slender, mustachioed man in perpetual motion at the Concordia Ale House or Oaks Bottom or the Green Dragon and wondered how he could, like the Energizer Bunny, keep going and going and going, never slowing down. I met Jim when he was at the Oaks Bottom Public House in Sellwood. I frequented that neighborhood because the Sellwood Dog Park was a short distance away, and I got in the nice habit of stopping by for a beer and a bowl of their delicious chili. I’d amuse myself as I watched Jim bounce between the bar and the kitchen and the restaurant’s tables, pouring beers or serving hot dishes or busing tables, all the while punctuating his efforts with that unforgettable, boisterous laugh. And then, amazingly and suddenly, he might sit down at your table and take five minutes to describe two or three beer options that might fit your particular tastes. And then he’d pop right back up and get back to the floor and his constant, incredibly efficient motion. Sometimes, I got tired just watching him. For several years, he was seemingly everywhere around town where good beer was being poured, right in the middle of the action. But then, like a benevolent, publican version of Keyser Soze, the “The Usual Suspects” mystery man, Jim Parker just disappeared. Poof! And I wondered… What the heck happened to Jim Parker? Well, he obviously had not fallen off the edge of the earth. In fact, he’d just relocated a few hours north to Bellingham, Washington. With the help of this blog’s founder, Angelo, I was able to get in touch with Jim and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about beer, brewpubs, the Green Dragon and the bar business, generally, in his remarkably candid, informative and engaging way.
What are you doing in Bellingham?
Jim Parker : Right now I am a bartender at Bayou’s Oyster Bar, a new addition to an existing Cajun/Creole restaurant in Bellingham. As the name implies, the focus is on fresh-shucked local oysters.
Is it similar to the kinds of things you were doing in Portland?
JP: It’s similar in the fact that it is serving people tasty adult beverages, but the bar only has four taps, so the focus is not on beer. Actually my last two bartending gigs have been more focused on cocktails than beer. It’s a bit of a departure, but I have been interested in distilling and cocktails for several years now.
How do you like life in Bellingham?
Read More Here (http://brewpublic.com/beer-personalities/interview-with-publican-jim-parker/)