See also: A bartender by any other name...is still a bartender.
Some time ago, a Facebook friend posted 25 things about himself that most people weren't aware of — and then he tagged me in the post, at which point I was supposed to do the same: rattle off 25 little-known facts about myself and ask someone else to follow suit. Instead, I'm asking Denver's bartenders to get up and close with Westword readers and share 25 lesser known tidbits about themselves — and then name the next bartender that I should interview.
Last week, when I chatted with Melissa Durant, one of the amazing bartenders at Acorn, she prodded me to interview Kade Gianinetti, a bartender at Linger. I love Linger for a lot of reasons, including the fact that it has the best rooftop deck in Denver, not to mention great food and drinks. And the bar staff, led by Mike Henderson, is top notch — and Kade Gianinetti, a key member of that group, is a well-rounded barman who's a lot of fun to watch.
In our third installment of "25 things you never knew," we learn that Gianetti is brewing coffee in kegs, dabbled in clog dancing, and has a knack for breaking bones.
Herewith, 25 things you never knew about Kade Gianinetti, bartender at Linger:
1. I had no idea that Melissa Durant even knew my name.
2. I'm a fourth-generation Italian who was born and raised in Carbondale, Colorado. Small-town Colorado is in my veins.
3. I went to the University of Colorado and received a BA in history. I bartended during college and that was when my passion for craft breweries and distilleries emerged.
4. I wrote my senior thesis on sports in Stalinist Russia.
5. I recently started a coffee roasting business with two of my best friends. We're the first ones in Denver to put cold brew coffee in kegs. After a long time home brewing, it just made sense.
6. I think hydroponic coffee is the future. Why not? I'd love to see it happen.
7. I play golf two-to-three times a week, and I'm still awful. Nonetheless, I love getting out there and really challenging myself. It's a huge mental work out, as well as an anger management tool. If you can hack your way around the golf course and come out smiling, you're doing something right.
8. I've broken six bones, and they all broke within a year and a half. People uses to call me "Mr. Glass."
9. When I was a youngster, my dream job was to become a car salesmen. I have no idea why, other than than it just always sounded good to me. It might have had something to do with the movie Little Giants; Kevin O'Shea had a pretty sweet set up.
10. I was involved in 4-H for eleven years. The county fair was the highlight of my childhood; it was like Christmas in August.
11. I write and eat with my left hand, but play sports with my right.
12. I have a three-month-old golden doodle named Berkeley
13. I've been great white shark cage diving.
14. I once brought a baby pig for show and tell...and it rewarded me by pooping all over the classroom.
15. When I was in middle school, I was involved in clogging, otherwise known as river dancing. I'm not too proud of those days — way too many bedazzled onesies — but, hey, I got to go to a convention in Las Vegas.
16. I have a dream of opening a bar in Nicaragua and living there three months out of the year.
17. I helped birth a baby mule.
18. I love to cook; cooking for friends and sharing a meal with good people is one of my favorite things.
19. My favorite thing to cook is homemade gnocchi.
20. I learned to cook from my dad, who'd always make me cook one meal a week for the family. He taught me how to love good food.
21. I have twin sisters who are taller than me. They play volleyball at Colorado Mesa University.
22. If we ever have an apocalypse, I hope it has zombies. I think I'd make it out alive, but only with slow-moving zombies.
23. I eat at Hops & Pie almost every day.
24. I once knocked out my right front tooth pumping myself up for a basketball game while I was looking into a bathroom mirror.
25. I'd like to blend the world of beer brewers, cocktail slingers and coffee roasters together to create a beverage community that takes Denver to a new level of craft beverages.
P.S. Gianinetti wants us to know 25 things about Chad Michael George, one of the bartenders at Williams & Graham.
Missed one of my interviews with a Denver bartender? Read the rest of them below. - 25 things you never knew about Melissa Durant, bartender at Acorn - 25 things you never knew about Steuben's bartender Ryan Layman
