Chantal Tseng loves just about anything fermented and poured, as she tells it, but especially wine, tea and cocktails. She's turned that love into roughly 18 years of serving drinks as a bartender, bar manager and part-time Sommelier. She is currently the Social Media Manager for a local wine distributor with a focus on natural wines. She is also a co-founder of Redeye Menus, a sherry pairing dinner social club that pairs sherry with Asian food. You might also find Chantal freelancing as a Sherry educator, promoting the local library or just doing some chalk art. Her current regularly scheduled passion is running the "Literary Cocktails" series in the Reading Room of Petworth Citizen every weekend where she creates specialty cocktail menus that are inspired by classic and contemporary literature. In the past, she held the rank of original Bar Manager and Senior Bartender of Mockingbird Hill where she created and managed the winelist and cocktail program. This is where she was named EaterDC's 2013 Bartender of the Year and one of Daily Meal's 25 Top Bartenders in America. She was also the first Head Mixologist for the historic Tabard Inn where she created the Tabard Cocktail, which was featured in one of her favorite publications, Imbibe magazine. A true student of all things liquid, she is a Bar Ready graduate of the B.A.R. program, a Certified Sommelier via the Court of Master Sommeliers and a Certified Sherry Educator from the Consejo Regulador in Jerez. She also plays a mean game of pool. You can find her posting regularly on Twitter and Instagram as @shinobipaws.
