Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Sarah Baraba profiles Onesto Pizza & Trattoria's Todd Brutcher. Below is a Q&A with Brutcher, followed by his recipe for Butternut-Apple Sangria.

Sarah Baraba

​Todd Brutcher has a pretty good gig. He gets to play Mad Sangria Scientist for Onesto Pizza & Trattoria (5401 Finkman Street; 314-802-8883). He started out in the restaurant industry in his teens as a dishwasher. A few years and eateries later, he became floor manager and head server for Onesto. After learning some sangria secrets from a former co-worker, he was hooked. He whips up a handful of sangria (and cocktail) recipes for the Princeton Heights restaurant each month.

"I just kind of fell into it," he says. "Now I won't let anyone else touch it. If I know I'm going to be off, I'll make enough for a few days. I'm getting such a following, I don't want anyone else to make it!"

You may be thinking, what's so great about sangria? Throw some mediocre wine, sugar, a few apple slices in a pitcher and you're set, right? Wrong. At Onesto, Brutcher has reinvented the Spanish wine punch. For Gut Check, he poured a glass of his Butternut-Apple Sangria made from roasted, locally grown butternut squash and apples that he cooked on the stovetop. He then pureed the fall bounty, and painstakingly pushed the mushy mixture through a sieve -- by hand. The result is buttery, bright and beautiful. Oh, and incredibly tasty.

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Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Sarah Baraba profiles the Famous Bar's Flynn Snider. Below is a Q&A with Snider, followed by the recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Martini.

Sarah Baraba

​Flynn Snider's brain might as well be the bible of adult beverages. It has to be, given the catalog of handcrafted cocktails at the Famous Bar (5213 Chippewa Street; 314-832-2211). Snider got his start at Schlafly and says he owes a lot of his knowhow to Bud Jostes, owner of Beale on Broadway.

When he wasn't too busy plying his trade behind the Famous' mahogany 1930s-era bar, the fourteen-year-veteran drink fixer shot the breeze with Gut Check about the nuances of mixing, memorization and method.

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Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Sarah Baraba profiles Café Ventana's Lucas Prize. Below is a Q&A with Prize, followed by the recipe for a Spanish Coffee.

Sarah Baraba

​OK, so we cheated a smidge. Lucas Prize isn't "technically" a bartender, but he's a darn good barista at Café Ventana (3919 West Pine Boulevard; 314-531-7500) who can whip you up a good, delicious buzz with one of the Midtown café's spirited coffees or News Orleans-inspired cocktails. Today, Prize's lattes run with the best, but he says it wasn't always that way. Café Ventana was his first barista job.

"I made a lot of terrible drinks at first," he laughed. "I didn't know a lot about coffee, but I knew I liked it a lot."

Prize served Gut Check a Spanish Coffee, perfect for sipping by the café's fireplace or on the heated patio on crisp fall evenings soon to come. Be sure not to space out behind the espresso machine after ordering one of these. The preparation of the drink is almost as explosive as the flavor. Prize gives the glass the flambé treatment, caramelizing the drink's signature lime-sugar rim with flaming Bacardi 151. (Showing off for Gut Check, he threw in a pinch of cinnamon that tossed off sparks.) It's worth the work. The rim puts a tang in each sip that makes the drink somewhat addicting and before you know it, you've downed the entire silky coffee-cocktail and you're not sure whether it's the caffeine or the alcohol that's got you've buzzed. Can we get another one of those, please?

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Sarah Baraba

​Gut Check tried Schweddy Balls ice cream last week. We found the gimmicky ice cream to be surprisingly tasty!

Meanwhile, the name of the flavor alone has left a bad taste in these ladies' mouths: One Million Moms has started a letter-writing campaign and boycott to pressure Ben & Jerry's into stopping distribution of Schweddy Balls. Of course, in its statement, the organization mentions Ben & Jerry's tendency toward "offending customers," citing the "special edition of Chubby Hubby called Hubby Hubby last year which celebrated gay marriage."

Well, ladies. No one's shoving gay ice cream or Schweddy Balls down your throat. In fact, we had to call every store in town and trek 25 miles just to find a pint of the Schweddy stuff. If it's so offensive, don't eat it. More for us.

The Million Moms' complete lack of humor drove us to drink, and the rum flavor laced into this dessert led Gut Check to an inevitable conclusion: This would taste great with booze!

We challenged Sanctuaria's spirits guide Joel Clark to craft a cocktail using the SNL-inspired sweet treat. Clark delivered, mixing a frothy, citrus-hinted, milk shake-like libation that he dubbed the Schweddy Ball Fizz.

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Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Ettie Berneking profiles Van Goghz Martini Bar & Bistro's Shelay Spencer. Below is a Q&A with Spencer, followed by the recipe for a Strawberry Lemon Drop.

Ettie Berneking

​Shelay Spencer might get into trouble for her improv work behind the bar, but we say, "Keep it going, girl; you know your stuff." Spencer has been a waitress and bartender at Van Goghz Martini Bar & Bistro (3200 Shenandoah Avenue; 314-865-3345) for three years. She says it took her eight months to master the art of bartending, but now that she has learned the basics, she's having fun making up new drinks of her own -- though they aren't always a smash hit.

We popped in for an early-morning martini and were pleasantly surprised by the Strawberry Lemon Drop she placed in front of us. Unlike the strawberry drinks served by the bucket at Applebee's, this one comes in much smaller quantity. It doesn't reek of sweetness or alcohol. To be honest, you can't even taste the booze. That's the trick: This beverage is so good, you'll want to down it in a few gulps. Not a terrible decision for the first fifteen minutes, maybe, but the taste is deceiving: It does have plenty of liquor. Sip responsibly.

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Welcome to Girl Walks into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week Kelsey Whipple profiles Bar Napoli's Han Tran. Below is a Q&A with Tran, followed by the recipe for the Summer Breeze.

Kelsey Whipple

​Han Tran is a welcome rarity. He's a spiritual bartender. He's also a multi-tasker: As the petite drinksmith stands behind the expansive bar at Bar Napoli (7754 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-863-5731), he is telling Gut Check a story about a trip to the Grand Canyon, creating three drinks simultaneously, introducing himself to a new customer and cracking a joke with a regular. "When you're at the Grand Canyon and a part of all that beauty, you know there has to be some sort of creator," Tran says. "You see how small you are."

Inside the stately if not quite beautiful atmosphere of the bar and restaurant combination where he was worked for almost ten years, it would be easy to feel small in all the bustle. Tran, however, doesn't let you. He is a creative and outgoing bartender who enjoys the extra time it takes to concoct a new creation based on his customers' drinking preference. He seems equally happy to hand another woman a glass of water, but it's tough to tell behind a smile that never falters. If you have the good fortune to order a drink from Tran on the four nights he works weekly, be sure to start a conversation -- if he doesn't first. The twenty-year St. Louis native began his life in south Vietnam, and he has no end of stories to share to augment your own.

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Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Chrissy Wilmes profiles Atomic Cowboy's Mike Anderson. Below is a Q&A with Anderson, followed by the recipe for Atomic's White Sangria.

Chrissy Wilmes

​This November, Mike Anderson will complete his first decade as a St. Louisan. Born and raised in Iowa, where he began bartending, Anderson later moved to North Carolina briefly before relocating to the Lou. Now in his fifth year tending bar at Atomic Cowboy (4140 Manchester Avenue, Forest Park Southeast; 314-775-0775), where he's known as "Mikey," Anderson fosters his love for inventive signature cocktails and a good party. (Atomic's Wednesday-night Dollar Bin is his favorite.)

Anderson's love for bartending came out of a love for cooking, especially grilling. "I'm intrigued with different cocktails," he explains. "I like to cook at home, and [bartending] is very similar. I like to experiment with different flavors." When he's not behind the bar or the Weber, he enjoys finding time to travel and relax with his family. "I like to do outdoor stuff, like landscaping. And spend time with my girlfriend and the kid," he says with a wide smile.

He took a short break from the busy Wednesday evening Dollar Bin prep to answer some questions and mix up a White Sangria. If a cocktail fit for a 98-degree-80-percent-humidity day is what you seek, look no further. The fruity drink is cool and refreshing but not too sweet. It's made for sipping slowly on the patio on a hot July night.

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Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Mabel Suen profiles The Heavy Anchor's Jodie Whitworth and Joshua Timbrook. Below is a Q&A with the pair, followed by the recipe for their concoction, the Rusty Anchor.

Mabel Suen

Joshua Timbrook and Jodie Whitworth, co-owners of The Heavy Anchor, a new 21+ indie community hangout dive bar

​Last May, Jodie Whitworth and Joshua Timbrook teamed up to open The Heavy Anchor (5226 Gravois Road; 314-352-5226), a new community-based, eclectic indie/punk dive bar in south city with a dark-humored nautical theme and an ever-growing selection of drinks.

Colorful murals of octopi, narwhals and the like adorn dark blue and gray walls in the spacious, high-ceilinged bar area, and a door opens up into another room that features lots of regular live entertainment. There's never a cover to get into the bar; Instead, patrons have the option of whether or not to visit the other side - something that is rather unique in their set-up.

Both Whitworth and Timbrook have educational backgrounds dealing with varying aspects of music and met while working for downtown's Jupiter Studios. With their mutual love for music in mind, the young couple set off to create their own space to house shows multiple times a week, weekly double-feature movie nights and an all-around comfortable watering hole for like-minded laid back drinking enthusiasts.

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Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week, Ettie Berneking profiles Clementines' Lew Russell. Below is a Q&A with Russell, followed by the recipe for a South Beach.

Ettie Berneking

Russell spent a few minutes selecting the perfect drink to both quench our thirst and satisfy our sweet tooth.

​Despite its name, Clementines (2001 Menard Street; 314-664-7869) is a no-frills establishment. They mean business here, and even a drink called the South Beach isn't as sweet as it sounds.

Bartender Lew Russell knows what he's doing. Russell has worked at Clementines for eight years now, and he's been bartending for nearly 40 years. In short, he knows what he's doing -- and that's why when we walked in and asked for a drink menu, he knew we weren't regulars.

There are no drink menus at Clementines, just strong drinks. But when we asked for something a little sweet and a little refreshing, Russell knew right away what we would like -- the South Beach. This isn't a drink for those who don't like coconut. But for those who do, it's heaven: smooth, rich and stinking of alcohol

It's delicious.

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Welcome to Girl Walks Into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week Kelsey Whipple profiles Absolutli Goosed's Robin Schubert. Below is a Q&A with Schubert, followed by the recipe for the Banana Hammock, a drink that tastes like liquid Bananas Foster.

Kelsey Whipple

Robin Schubert of Absolutli Goosed

​Absolutli Goosed (3196 South Grand Boulevard; 314-771-9300 or www.absolutligoosed.com) was robbed Wednesday night, but other than a temporary plywood door, you wouldn't know it. Robin Schubert and Staci Stift, bartenders, co-owners and life partners, are smiling even as they talk about the damage, some of which their insurance won't cover. As Stift concludes the unsettling story, she moves on to show both regulars and newcomers a cell phone photo of their four-year-old son. It's a cute photo.

This is both typical and a sign of the attitude behind Absolutli Goosed, a South City martini bar that would be almost quaint if not for its progressive leanings. The interior is decorated with both abstract art and retro martini ads, complete with scantily clad ladies posing in glasses, and its owners have spent the past seven years together there and the past three years making it their own. After seven years in retail management at Target, Schubert began her eight-year span at Absolutli Goosed in a part-time position checking IDs at the door. The move was the polar opposite of her former position, one she describes as mundane and calculated as she laughs about her life at Absolutli. "We have the craziest, most amazing customer base," she says. "We would never have made the decision to buy the bar without that following. I've worked at other places, but I just keep coming back here."

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