Angel Teta
Ataula | Portland, OR
APRIL 2018
At 10, Angel Teta was chopping lettuce and answering phones at her mom’s pizza parlor in Daytona Beach, Florida. By 17, she was bartending at high-volume clubs and busy bars like Aunt Catfish’s on the River. Switching coasts, Teta continued her high-volume life at The Australian Pub in San Diego before finally trading drop shots for fresh juices in Portland, Oregon.
She was enamored with the city’s cocktail culture and landed a gig at the RiverPlace Hotel, where she was given free range and, during her six-year tenure, transformed the bar program. Teta also spent quite some time sitting, watching, and sipping at bars like Teardrop Lounge and Clyde Common. Eventually, she moved on to Three Degrees and then Rave & Rose before finding a home behind the bar at Chef Jose Chesa’s mod-Spanish tapas temple, Ataula. She has traveled abroad to study Yzaguirre and Martínez Lacuesta Vermouths in Spain, as well as with Pierre Ferrand in France, Jameson’s in Ireland, and Appleton in Jamaica.
She has also accumulated an impressive slate of awards: Eater Portland’s “Bartender of the Year,” Miss Speed Rack (twice), Tales of the Cocktail competition champ, and winner of the BAR 5-Day scholarship, among other accolades. In addition to keeping the Sherry, amaro, and vermouth-fueled party going at Ataula, Teta is the lead whiskey guardian for Angel’s Envy.
