Kansas City bartender Diana Condori named James Beard semifinalist for cocktail service
By Eric Graves
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — Behind the bar at Fern Bar in Kansas City, Diana Condori is focused on more than just making drinks.
“You just slap it, opens up those aromatics,” Condori said while preparing a cocktail.
But for Condori, a great cocktail is about more than what’s in the glass.
“How you make people feel. It is, I think, going to stay with them more than sometimes what the cocktail is going to taste like,” she said.
As bar manager at Fern Bar along Southwest Boulevard, Condori has built her approach around relationships, something she says starts with energy.
“I think energy is everything,” she said.
That connection shows up in small, personal moments with customers.
“You don’t have to even talk to them. I just pour it. Here you go. And I think it makes them feel special to, you know, to not even have to say anything,” Condori said.
And for new customers, she keeps things simple.
“I’m not doing anything special. I’m just making him laugh. I’m making a daiquiri, which is a very simple lime, sugar, and rum,” she said.
What’s not simple is what she’s built behind the bar.
“My most important thing is making sure that the culture that I work in is a positive and fun environment, and I take care of my people,” Condori said.
That philosophy has earned her national recognition. Condori is now a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.
“It’s scary,” she said, laughing.
Condori said the honor, one of the most prestigious in the culinary industry, came as a surprise.
“And to be on that list, I was like, I have so much work to do. Still, There is so much work to be done I want to keep learning and growing,” she said.
The recognition also carries meaning beyond the bar.
As the daughter of Bolivian immigrants, Condori said she’s heard from others who see themselves in her success.
“A lot of people have reached out to me who, you know, have looked like me, and they’re having a Latina in a space like this is pretty cool,” she said.
As for winning the award, she isn’t thinking too far ahead.
“That would be, I don’t know, that would be a fluke,” she said.
For now, Condori is staying grounded.
“We’re not saving lives here. We’re just making cocktails,” Condori said.
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