Key West Florida Weekly

BARTENDER OF THE WEEK

Stirring things up with Jenn Stefanacci at 22&Co.



 

 

Everybody loves Jenn. What’s not to love? She’s beautiful, hard-working, energetic, smart, giving, and always seems to be smiling. Her story is like a lot of other bartenders’ stories; she’s a professional who chose the life of tending bar for all the reasons so many of the rest of us did. The flexibility, the camaraderie, the social interaction, the challenge, the fun, and of course, the money.

“I was born at Yale Hospital in New Haven, Conn.,” she said. “My dad made parts for Nascar. My mom worked with dad, but now she’s retired.”

The family moved to Toms River, N.J., shortly after Jenn was born. She attended high school, before heading off to Elon University in North Carolina, where she earned a degree in public relations and corporate communications. “I bartended in college,” she said. “But my first real job bartending was on the Jersey Shore, at Jack and Bill’s Bar and Grill and at the Sawmill Cafe.”

After school, Jenn took off to the Big Apple, where she did event planning for a company that handled “… about 12 bars. Then for a year-and-a-half I worked for the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, in management.”

Throughout her youth, Jenn was no stranger to Key West.

“My dad made parts for the boats,” she said, referring to the powerboats that race here every November. “I’ve been coming here since I was 8 years old. We used to come to the boat races every year. I used to keep a travel book. Just before I moved down here, I found it and there was a picture of me when I was 10 years old, on the Conch Train with my sister Sam, who was 8, and my brother Pat, who was 6.”

Then, in late October, 2009, Jenn packed one suitcase for what she thought would be six months, and headed south. “It was about to be winter again,” she said with a smile. “I had no intention of getting a job. But within four days I had a job at Irish Kevin’s.”

By March, Jenn got the news she was pregnant. She headed to Toledo, Ohio, and had her son, Finn, on Christmas Day, 2010, “and right after that, I moved back home to Key West.”

Jenn used to be notorious for working at several places at the same time, juggling shifts and schedules, and picking up shifts for bartenders in need all over town.

Some of the places she has worked include Blue Macaw Island Eats, Bagatelle, 915, Virgilios, La Trattoria, the Porch, the Other Side, 2Cents, Brazalena (“the only girl ever” — now closed), Irish Kevin’s, Lazy Gecko (also closed) and the Little Room Jazz Club.

“I was also a manager at the Westin Hotel,” she pointed out.

Not to mention she was the original publisher of this newspaper — the Florida Weekly Key West edition — and was instrumental in getting the paper established here in its crucial infancy.

These days Jenn’s hard work and years of experience have brought her to 22&Co.’s six-seat bar, where the turf floor meets up with the Duval Street sidewalk cement. It offers great people watching in an atmosphere of fun with well-crafted cocktails such as its famous pina colada in real pineapples. The concept is a collection of all the things Jenn loves, such as glitter, unicorns and tutus (which she has cleverly used to decorate the bar seats). You can find Jenn behind the bar at 22&Co. every Wednesday.

And as though running your own bar isn’t an overtime job already, Jenn decided to run for commissioner this past year. Although she didn’t win this time around, her voice was heard all around the island and her political presence unmistakably left an impression.

She reminded us that it is our responsibility to be more involved, and that anyone can be.

Last but not least, Jenn is on the board at May Sands Montessori School, where her son Finn attends, as a co-fundraising chair. Her mother, Marcia, (aka Bob) also lives in Key Wey West.

When she’s not working, Jenn enjoys paddle boarding, running, riding bikes with Finn and traveling, from Iceland to the Bahamas, Europe, Central America and the Cayman Islands.

As busy as she is, at the end of the day she’s the kind of person who will always help, right away, whenever she’s asked.

“I love the entire concept we have here of One Human Family,” she said.

“We appreciate and respect all races, religions, black and white, gay, straight, bi … We love everyone.

“I love the willingness of the community to come together for so many causes. There’s no other place like it in the world.” ¦

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