Practically the moment that Jessica Gonzalez turned 18, she jumped behind the bar at a Florida steakhouse, and she’s been taken with bartending, and hospitality, ever since. The native (Upstate) New Yorker was raised in Pennsylvania and Florida and has lived and worked in New York for the past 11 years. Gonzalez signed on at Death & Co. thinking it would be a flexible job while she was earning an advanced degree in interior design. Now bartending is looking more like a career. We recently met at Death & Co. in the aftermath of a blizzard, where Gonzalez shared more insights about her background and approach.

How did this opportunity come about for you?

I started working here as a waitress. I’d worked in the industry for a very long time. When I was 18, I started bartending, and I applied for a bartending job here, but they were like, oh well, will you waitress? No problem. I knew that I was going to be starting school in some months to come, so I was really looking for something that would be flexible with my school schedule, and this was the perfect amount of days and everything for that. It was a perfect fit. I was really excited about being involved with it anyways. It sort of opened my eyes to this style of bartending. I liked making good drinks, but not to the degree and level of these guys. Their knowledge and their passion towards things was just beyond the level I’d seen. The history of things. Everything was just pretty great.

What brought you to New York City?

Partially just loving the city. The first time I ever came to the city at an age I remember, I was like, “That’s where I want to live.” I knew it, immediately. Also, I went to school for art before that, so it made a lot of sense, and I had friends who had friends who moved up here because everybody’s following their dream of making art and pursuing galleries and things along that line. I did that for a little while and was disenchanted pretty quickly.

What was your latest stint in school for?

Interior design. I was really into it and Phil [Ward] actually had me behind the bar here already and was kind of giving me a hard time, saying, “Jess, you need to come behind the bar. What are you doing going to school?” I was like, “No, no, I’m trying to pursue something else,” and I love interior design and I love the creativity that’s involved in it. Then the economy went south and there’s really not a lot of jobs in it, nor especially anything making money, so I don’t really feel like being poor for years and years. I’m a little too old to work for free, and I really don’t see the point in working for free for anybody, so I decided to go behind the bar here. I already loved doing it. It’s definitely something I enjoy, but it kind of took it to more of an interesting level, where I can actually continue to learn and experiment. There’s a creativity that’s involved with it, and there are more possible opportunities for the future that I started seeing more available that I never saw before.

Do you feel like the education you just received in interior design applies on any level to what you’re doing behind the bar?

It doesn’t really. What it does give me and what I like to think of, is, I do eventually – I know it’s not in the very near future – but I’d like to have my own place. My own restaurant and bar, and because of that, I think interior design will come in handy. I can put my own blueprints together and have an architect sign off on them. Maybe save myself some of the headaches. I did a lot of film work, working in Art Departments, so I have a lot of sourcing information, and a lot more of an ability and understanding of what I need to do in order to make certain things happen, that I don’t think I had before.

What was your first bar related job?

I had worked at this place down in Florida. It was called Santa Fe Steakhouse, and I started off as a hostess, because you can’t wait tables or serve alcohol until you’re 18. So I started working there when I was 16. Then when I was 18 they made me a waitress right away and within a couple months of that, they made me a bartender. It’s really kind of cool, because I used that first bartending job, I used a jigger, because they wanted me to pour, they wanted me to learn how much goes into each drink. I made Manhattans. I made Stingers and Rusty Nails, ’cause it’s all old people down there, so you end up learning a lot of the older drinks. Old Fashioneds. Of course they were muddled Old Fashioneds. It’s kind of nice that was my introduction, because so many bartenders, sometimes you go somewhere and ask for a Manhattan, they don’t know how to make it. That’s just sort of sad.

Would you say that you have any mentors?

I definitely feel like I’ve learned a lot from the guys here. In a way, a lot of them are mentors to me. I don’t think there’s somebody I look at that, necessarily, “That’s who I want to be.” I haven’t decided, “I want to be you. You’re who I want to be.” I’m still trying to figure out exactly where I want to go next, but I do know there’s a shelf life to being a bartender.

What is it that inspires you about bartending?

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