E271 Manny Hernandez

In this episode of The Industry Podcast, we sit down with Emmanuel "Manny" Hernandez, lead bartender at Stokes Adobe in Monterey, California, and a 2024 Punch Magazine Top 10 honoree. Manny shares his journey from dishwasher to one of the most respected bartenders in the Monterey Bay area — including the bar-back humility that shaped his career, the physicality and "choreography" of working behind the wood, his grueling Bar5 spirits certification experience, and a harrowing, deeply personal story of surviving a shooting at the restaurant where he worked.

Guest Bio

Emmanuel "Manny" Hernandez was born and raised in Mexico City and moved to California at 18. He got his start in hospitality as a dishwasher before unexpectedly being thrown behind the bar one night — and never looked back. After working his way up through restaurants in Watsonville, Los Gatos, and Santa Cruz Manny completed the demanding Bar5 spirits certification and was named to Punch Magazine's Top 10 Bartenders in 2024. He currently runs the bar program at Stokes Adobe in Monterey, California.

Find Manny on Instagram: @mezcalito_manny

Key Topics Discussed

• From dishwasher to bartender — Manny's path through prep cook, barback, and an unplanned first shift slinging beer and piña coladas
• Bartending school and early classics — margaritas, Long Islands, and the documentary that sparked his love for the craft
• Taking a step back to move forward — choosing to work as a barback again at a more advanced bar in order to learn from top-tier mentors
• The physicality of bartending — reading your bar partner, "dancing" behind the bar, and moving efficiently in tight spaces
• Competition cocktails — early competition mishaps (almost forgetting the mezcal), egg-white cocktails, and lessons learned the hard way
• Mentorship — the influence of Kate Goodwin, Blaise Montana, and best friend/mentor Jorge Vargas on his technique and classics knowledge
• Bar5 certification — what the legendary, high-pressure spirits program actually involves, from memorizing 100 classic recipes to building cocktail stations from scratch
• Punch Magazine Top 10 (2024) — how the recognition came together and what it means for someone who started as a dishwasher
• Surviving gun violence at work — Manny's account of a shooting at a former restaurant, the aftermath, and how bartending helped him recover
• Respect for bar-backs — Manny's message to the industry about valuing the people who keep the bar running

A big thank you to Jean-Marc Dykes of Imbiblia. Imbiblia is a cocktail app for bartenders, restaurants and cocktail lovers alike and built by a bartender with more than a decade of experience behind the bar. Several of the features includes the ability to create your own Imbiblia Recipe Cards with the Imbiblia Cocktail Builder, rapidly select ingredients, garnishes, methods and workshop recipes with a unique visual format, search by taste, using flavour profiles unique to Imbiblia, share recipes publicly plus many more......Imbiblia - check it out!

Contact the host Kypp Saunders by email at kyppsaunders@gmail.com for products from Elora Distilling and Noble Estates.

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