PORTLAND, Oregon — Banjo Amberg has been a bartender for decades, most recently at upscale eatery Clyde Common downtown, until it closed because of the pandemic.
"We all thought we were going to be closed for a couple of weeks, and now it's, what, 15 months later," said Amberg, who's been out of work since then. "It's been tough because we haven't really been able to fully reopen. We tried for a bit and the state kind of backtracked on guidelines, then they rushed them back, and then they went back again."
That's when a friend told Banjo about The Orphan Bartender Series.
Northeast Portland bar Cliff's PDX came up with the series as a unique way to help furloughed and out of work bartenders all over the city get through tough times.
Sierra Kirk-Luebke is the co-owner of Cliff's. She says they had to cut staff during the pandemic, but powered through to survive, and wanted to help struggling bartenders along the way.
"One of the things that's always been important to my husband Josh and I is kind of giving back and using our space to help out and be part of the community," said Kirk-Luebke.
She teamed up with a friend, Angel's Envy whiskey representative Hannah Scollo to create the Orphan Bartender program.
Here's how it works: The unemployed bartender designs an Angel's Envy cocktail. It goes on the menu at Cliff's for a month. A big portion of the sales of the cocktails goes directly to the bartender.
The series launched in March. Amberg is the feature bartender for the month of May.
"The more cocktails I sell, the more money I get to help me pay bills, or for groceries or gas or what have you," said Amberg.
As COVID restrictions loosen, Kirk-Luebke and Scollo anticipate more bartenders will return to work. But that doesn't mean the end of the Orphan Bartender series. They plan to transition to having guest bartenders with proceeds going to charity.
Amberg is grateful for the help. "It's really wonderful to see that the community can come together as friends or peers, try to make programs happen to help each other out. That is one of the unique and wonderful things about the food and beverage industry," he said.