Eight Things Observed in One Hour at Proof & Provision

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Proof & Provision, the basement bar at the Georgian Terrace Hotel, is helmed by bartender Nate Shuman and chef Zeb Stevenson. Across from the Fox Theatre, it's a busy place on any weekend night. Below, observations from an hour of Friday evening service.

1. Things drunk girls say: "I know that drink will be good because I'm enjoying watching you enjoy making it."
2. Wise words bestowed by Stevenson: "It's the season of overindulgence."
3. Bartender Alex Sher pours liquor at the exact same angle every time (photographic evidence in the gallery).
4. Apparently, the Proof & Provision higher-ups wanted the bartenders to wear matching uniforms, but Shuman refused.
5. Drunk people love "fireballs," also known as flamed citrus peels (see photo above), because they're "totally incredible."
6. The bar goes through about 400 lemons and limes a week.
7. More things drunk girls say: "Everything tastes better when it's poured out of a mason jar." In this case, spiced rum made in house.
8. The bartenders don't count when they're shaking drinks— Shuman says mysteriously that he "just knows— there are clues." Sher adds that it "feels different, more like a snowball than chunks of ice," that condensation starts to form on the outside of the shaker, and that it starts to sound softer.

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