Tres Monos isn’t simply one in all Buenos Aires’ greatest locations to get a cocktail. The bar, whose identify interprets to “three monkeys” in Spanish (referencing the “see no evil, hear no evil, communicate no evil” proverb), can also be among the best locations to discover ways to make a drink.
In 2019, companions Charly Aguinsky and Sebastián Atienza (later joined by the “third monkey,” Gustavo Vocke) took over a two-story nook constructing within the Palermo Soho neighborhood, adorning it with a neon pink signal that also proclaims the bar at present. The bartenders all the time knew they wished to serve extra than simply scrumptious drinks. As former model ambassadors, they had been equally relaxed behind a bustling bar counter as they had been in entrance of a projector and coaching groups. “From the outset, we knew Tres Monos can be greater than only a bar; it will additionally operate as a consultancy and a faculty,” says Atienza. “It’s ingrained in our work ethos.”
The preliminary step to creating their dream a actuality concerned establishing a drinks academy on the higher ground of the bar. “That is the place our studio is predicated, serving as a devoted area for coaching people [who are] passionate concerning the business, these trying to pursue mixology or refine their expertise,” says Atienza. In cohorts of round 10 college students, newbie bartenders begin their careers right here, studying from Fede Cuco, one of many foremost authorities in Argentina’s drinks scene. Famend not solely as a training bartender but in addition as a drinks researcher, he shares insights into the tales behind basic cocktails and pivotal developments in trendy bartending, like distillation and clarification.
In 2021, amid the pandemic, a possibility arose for the bar to increase its academic efforts past Palermo, to close by Barrio Padre Carlos Mugica (or just Barrio Mugica, for locals). The neighborhood is without doubt one of the metropolis’s most traditionally marginalized: an space with no public colleges, a struggling public well being system and declining infrastructure. In partnership with the Entrepreneurial and Labor Growth Heart (CeDEL) of town of Buenos Aires, Tres Monos bartenders offered coaching to younger residents of the realm—lots of whom had by no means earlier than dealt with a bar spoon nor tasted a sip of mezcal—for 2 years, in services offered by the municipal authorities.
When the official mission concluded on the finish of 2023, the companions determined to proceed on their very own: They leased an area in Barrio Mugica and expanded their choices to incorporate new packages, similar to barista and sommelier trainings. “Our goal was to maintain this initiative, to offer coaching and to create job alternatives for the local people,” says Atienza.
Round 70 individuals have already attended the lessons, the place college students be taught the ABCs of mixology, ranging from the fundamentals—similar to how one can use strainers, muddlers, cocktail jiggers and bar spoons—to spirits tastings to making ready classics just like the Penicillin and Manhattan.
“The course spans about eight classes, break up evenly between theoretical lessons and [classes where students] get the prospect to place principle into observe,” says Agostina Gerling, one of many bartenders at Tres Monos, who additionally teaches lessons. Gerling and the remainder of the educating workers additionally assist college students with different profession expertise, like writing résumés and making ready for job interviews.
When he utilized for the preliminary program—amongst almost 100 different candidates—Alcides Damián Mendoza, also called “Chino,” had restricted information of mixology and lacked formal employment. By way of the lessons, he found a brand new ardour: “I turned enamored,” he says. At the moment, Mendoza is a part of the Tres Monos workforce, alongside 4 colleagues who additionally accomplished the course.
Through the morning shift, Mendoza prepares mixes, calibrates machines and ensures that every little thing is ready for the bartenders. “I got here right here with little information, and now I completely get pleasure from my work,” he says. “What I believed can be only a course has change into a brand new skilled path in my life,” he provides. Sooner or later, Mendoza intends to enterprise into his personal bartending-related enterprise.
After all, real skilled improvement for a bartender takes place behind the bar, notably within the interactions with prospects throughout service; it’s essentially a hospitality-driven occupation, in any case. However Gerling says that the course is greater than a useful gateway to the world of drink-making. The lessons she and others educate emphasize sustaining a powerful work ethic and collaborating successfully in a workforce, traits she hopes to foster within the subsequent generations of bartenders.
Jessica Herrera, a resident of Barrio Mugica, was impressed to enroll in lessons after coming throughout a CeDEL publication saying them. She appreciated the lessons—not simply due to the strategies she realized, but in addition due to the bartenders she had the chance to satisfy. “The grasp lessons stood out, as I started connecting with outstanding professionals of this business, like Fede [Cuco],” she says. “The expertise felt surreal.” Upon finishing the course, she commemorated the achievement together with her household by making them the cocktails she had mastered.
Shortly after, she obtained an invite to hitch the workforce at Cacho, a streetside rotisserie counter throughout the Tres Monos group that serves tortillas, tapas, vermouth and cocktails. “I began as a runner, then transitioned to engaged on the ground as a waitress, and finally turned a cashier,” Herrera says. “Since then, I’ve by no means left, and I really feel like I’ve discovered the place I belong.”