Bartender of the Month: November 2002 By Fritz Hahn washingtonpost.com Staff Writer

Cozy bar and giant club -- Peter Spada's at home at both. (Photo by Fritz Hahn/ washingtonpost.com)

Considering his skill, it's strange that Peter, a native of King of Prussia, Pa., never set out to be a bartender. "I worked as an investment and mortgage banker and decided I needed a change," he says. "The money is fantastic, but after a while, you learn it doesn't mean anything." He's been bartending on and off for 10 years, but two years ago, Peter came to stay with a friend in Washington and wound up with jobs bartending at U-topia and Cada Vez, where he began to perfect his own drink recipes. He moved to both Dream and Soussi in the past year and hasn't looked back.

A brief Q & A with Peter

What's YOUR favorite drink?
Good old Captain Morgan and ginger ale.

What's the drink you make most often?
Love in an Elevator. It's my own special concoction, but people know to ask for it. It's a sweet tropical drink with rum, fruit liqueur and fruit juice. You can't taste the alcohol, but in, like, 15 minutes, it'll get you drunk.

What was the last drink you didn't know how to make?
It was the simplest one -- a greyhound (vodka and grapefruit juice). I knew it, but I hadn't heard of it in ages.

What do you have to do to get '86ed?
If you look intoxicated and you're bothering other people. Or you're sleeping at the bar. And especially if you're starting to get drunk and I know you're driving.

Finish the line: A man walks into a bar . . .
. . . with a duck under his arm.

What's the best pickup line you've ever overheard?
It's usually the cheesy ones, like "Are your legs tired? You've been running through my mind all night." I've seen guys buy girls drinks and then get slapped in the face, but I couldn't hear what they were saying.

What song do you wish they'd take off the jukebox?
I don't know who does it, but at Soussi, there's a version of "My Way" in French that has an Arabic feel and a techno beat.

The first sign a patron's drunk is:
Slurred speech. You usually hear that right before they stumble off their bar stool.

Have you ever dated/gone home with someone you met while you were working?
Yes.

Which bars do you visit when you're not working?
Cafe Citron and U-topia.

How cheap are people, really?
Some people are pretty damn cheap. One guy -- who I'd told to leave because he was getting drunk -- gave a penny on his credit card. The best was a $150 tip on a $30 bill. It was a couple, and I was just friendly and hospitable, talking to them. You treat people with respect and they take care of you.

What piece of bar etiquette do you wish people would learn?
People who yell "Hey, hey, hey" at you. That drives me up the wall. It happens a lot at Dream. Or when they say, "Hey, you! Yo! Hey! Hey!"

Give us a piece of advice.
Shut your eyes, shut your mouth and shut your ears, if possible. In Italian, we have a saying: If you mind your own business, you'll live to be 100.

Read about our other bartenders of the month

Who's your favorite bartender? Tell us, and maybe we'll put him or her on the spot next month.