The Philip Duff Show #155, Tobin Ellis, veteran bartender, author of “Bar Design Essentials", champion flair bartender, principal of Barmagic design studios (Las Vegas & New York) 30 March 2026
God help me, I've known Tobin for thirty years now, having met when we both competed in flair bartending contests, starting with the legendary Quest for the Best in Orlando many moons ago. Tobin went on to co-found the Flair Bartenders Association (FBA) and later moved to Las Vegas, where he still (mostly) hangs his hat.
He went all-in on bar design decades ago, and has completed a book, "Bar Design Essentials" that he started writing in 2007, and which is as seminal and definitive for bar design as "Roundbuilding" is for making rounds of cocktails, and as "The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails" is for, well, spirits and cocktails.
If we design bars better, so bartenders can work faster, better and injury-free, we're setting those bartenders up to be true hospitalitarians - so why don't we?
We down all the rabbit holes we could find, and then invented a few more, from the complexity of modern cocktails to cotton candy machines, his favorite bar shape, the redheaded stepchild of hospo, the state of training these days and his many, many injuries - enjoy!
Follow Tobin on IG: https://www.instagram.com/tobinellisdesign/
Check out Studio Barmagic: https://www.barmagic.com/
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