Christian “Suzu” Suzuki-Orellana - The Gazelle Behind The Stick

Interview with bartender supreme, Christian "Suzu" Suzuki-Orellana.

Hello and welcome back to BoozeNation The Podcast.

Today my Interview with bartender supreme, Christian "Suzu" Suzuki-Orellana.  And like most bartenders Suzu was working at three bars in San Francisco before the pandemic hit and I met him at one of those bars - Wildhawk, which is in the Mission. I would go into Wildhawk after my bar shift ended on Saturday night and Suzu would make me such delicious cocktails and one of the things I noticed about Suzu is how graceful he is behind the bar. He glides around the bar and around his coworkers like a graceful gazelle and I just love watching him work. I think because I am like a Clydesdale behind the bar and somebody who can move that gracefully was just kind of a mystery to me.

We talk about some of the San Francisco bars Suzu has worked in prior to COVID, his family's businesses in the East Bay and Japan. His commitment to giving back to his community through his Kagano pop-up, and what it's like to work with the public since 2016. At times it's very scary working with such a hate fueled public.

So here we are episode two and enjoy Suzu's giggle.