Sandy De Almeida is a busy woman. In addition to holding things down Friday and Saturday nights at the Gladstone Hotel, she also moonlights behind the bar at Churchill, Unit and Reposado. And while she's more than capable of pumping out vodka sodas at breakneck speeds for the weekend warriors of West Queen West, she's at her best when she's crafting cocktails and shooting the shit with whomever might be hunched over her bar that night.

I met up with Sandy on her day off to talk about movies, public nudity and New York City.

The Cloak & Dagger is one of those places where it's almost better to go alone. Sure there are plenty of long wooden tables to accommodate all of your friends, and sure you'll have a great time with them. But at the Cloak, sitting at a table means you're not sitting at the bar, and that is definitely where the action is.

It's just one of those rare taverns that attract just the right type of eccentric to keep you immersed in great conversation all night long. They're reliable regulars, and there's a very good chance they'll be perched at one of the stools when you make your visit. And if they're not — well, you still have Jordan to entertain you. He's been pulling pints behind the bar for close to three years, and doing his fair share of sampling as well. Which at the Cloak is necessary professional development. Someone needs to walk you through their 20+ tap selection of mostly Ontario micro brews.

I caught up with Jordan before one of his recent shifts to talk about the bar business, romantic comedies and how to move an immovable object.

Robin Wynne got his start in the service industry like a lot of people — in the dish pit. But the journey from there to creating award winning cocktails is hardly a straight story.

He spent the better part of his early career in the kitchen, working his way up to Chef at Legends Tap & Grill in Guelph, Ontario. From there he moved on to management positions in the corporate world at places like Milestones, but when that left a bit of a bad taste in his mouth, he took a job running Fynn's of Temple Bar on King West.

He'd never intended on pulling pints himself, but Sunday evenings were a bit of a drag for a while, and it seemed wasteful to have a dedicated bartender, so Wynne took to the wood and discovered he was a bit of a natural. In just two years he taught himself the ropes and went from complete novice to an in demand cocktail consultant, building menus for Fynn's and beyond.

Earlier this week, Toronto's annual Made With Love cocktail competition took place in the Distillery District. The event attracts some of the city's top notch bartenders to compete for two prizes, one decided by the public and the other by a panel of judges led by Thirsty Traveler host, Kevin Brauch.

Back in 1986, a drummer by the name of Teddy Fury got fired from his band and decided that in order to get his life together he should try his hand at selling real estate. So he enrolled in a program in order to learn the ins and outs of the industry. In the meantime, to make ends meet, he took a side job as a bartender. He had no experience in the business, but had spent a great deal of time playing — and drinking — in bars. So much so, that he had gotten to know the owner of the Horseshoe Tavern at the time, X-Ray McRae, quite well.

In fact, it was only after a bit of nudging from him that Fury actually took the job.

In the 26 years since, Fury has become one of the most recognizable and well known bartenders in the city. He never did end up selling real estate, but he did get back behind the drum kit where he's been playing with The Royal Crowns for over 20 years.

Needless to say, you don't spend a quarter century at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern without walking away with a few stories. Here are just a few of the ones we covered during an interview last week.

Scott McMaster got his start in the service industry just down the street from his current digs at SPiN Toronto. 12 years ago, after a stint as a camp councilor he found himself unemployed and with lots of free time. His sister was bartending at Montana at the time (now The Ballroom) and as luck would have it, they were in need of a bus boy. McMaster quickly found his way behind the bar, first as a bar back and then, later as a bartender. Since then he's worked in more than half a dozen distinguished restaurants and bars, along side the likes of Susur Lee, Mark McEwan and many others.

Eventually he made his way into the competitive circuit, testing his creative mixing prowess against his peers — a process at which he's fared quite well. His next appearance will be at the Made With Love competition in the Distillery District at the end of the month.