Exclusive: Drinking Made Easy in the `Burg

Exclusive: Drinking Made Easy in the
'Burg
POSTED : 05.11.11
BY Burg
TAGS: News, Entertainment, People, Restaurant
Mandarin Hide partner Ryan Griffin, Zane Lamprey and Steve McKenna
Last night, the Downtown St. Pete Page got an exclusive preview for the live
shooting of Zane Lamprey's second season of Drinking Made Easy inside the
Mandarin Hide. Since the bar had to be closed for the filming, a few family and
friends were allowed to get in on the action and witness the hilarity of Zane
Lamprey and his sidekick/stunt drinker Steve McKenna live.
Lamprey became famous with his first TV show called Three Sheets (on Spike)
which has taken him all over the world to sample local drinks and at the same
time experience the culture and people around them. With Drinking Made Easy,
they travel the United States and visit particular bars that may have something
quite different from the average bar to offer.
According to Zane, choosing particular locations and places to stop in entails a
bit of a process. First, they take into consideration what their viewers suggest or
"vote" for. Then they narrow it down to the places that come up often and do
some research to see what make them tick. And for this episode in Tampa Bay
in particular, the selection came down to 3 stops in Tampa including Bern's,
Ciros and Cigar City Brewing and one, but certainly not the least, in the 'Burg,
downtown's own Mandarin Hide.
Mandarin Hide's Jason Fackler showed off his own tricks in the craft of mixology
involving some special ingredients, techniques and tools that were definitely
impressive and "fiery" even (that's the Blue Blazer!) Oooh. You may just have to
ask him next time you're in what all he made for Zane and see if you can take it
yourself.
Who is Pleepleus? For those who may not be in the know, this is Pleepleus.
The episode on Tampa and St. Petersburg won't be airing until October but we'll
definitely give you a heads up when we find out the sked. Drinking Made Easy
can be seen on HDNet every Wednesday at 8:30ET.