Manhattan Zodiac is a women-owned and operated company based in San Francisco, specializing in bar consulting, cocktail catering, and mixology classes and events. Co-founders, Katya Skye and Yana Nogid, have extensive years of hospitality experience combined from San Francisco and New York bar establishments.

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Manhattan Zodiac is a company driven by a passion for teaching and learning, and a strong desire to elevate the standards of the bartending experience for professionals and cocktail enthusiasts. 

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Mission: To imbibe with appreciation, elegance, and knowledge.

Yana Nogid was born in Riga, Latvia and raised in San Francisco. Her bartending career began in 2013 while attending USF to obtain a degree in Counseling Psychology, MFT. She completed her master's degree, got licensed, and opened a private practice. Bartending during her MFT journey, she didn't know mixology would become her new expertise. In 2019, she took a hiatus from the mental health world and partnered with Katya to establish a common vision, materializing into Manhattan Zodiac. 

 

Yana has experience in training new bartenders, bar management, and cocktail development. San Francisco continues to be her special place of residence. She’s had the pleasure of working for Playland Bar, Nihon Whiskey Lounge, Topsys, Iron Horse, Garibaldi’s, and Harry’s Bar. 

Katya Skye was born in the outskirts of Russia and raised in St. Petersburg.  She has an educational background in economics and finance and 12 years of experience as a logistics account executive. She developed an obsession for bartending in 2015 when she moved to San Francisco. Over the last 5 years she has tended bar and obtained leadership roles as bar manager and consultant for bars and restaurants in New York and San Francisco.

 

As of late she has tended bar at Bourbon and Branch, the oldest speakeasy in San Francisco, with a crew of great and talented professionals. She is excited to share Manhattan Zodiac with Yana, a product of common inspiration from years of friendship and professional growth together.

Davide Diana has 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, and for many of these years tended bar around the world, including Italy, where  his family owns a restaurant business. 10 years of his hospitality career has been in San Francisco, being his current place of residence.

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Davide tended bar in London at the Casino IVY, where he trained under the World’s leading bartender, Salvatore Calabrese. He also worked at the Goldfish Cocktail Bar in Sydney, Australia, and the Pelican Hotel in Miami. In San Francisco, he worked at the bar/restaurants of the Dajani Group, for whom he managed Nihon Whisky Lounge, Amaro Bar 821, and Tsunami.

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With a true passion for cooking and deep roots in Italian gastronomy, Davide is the co-owner of Cibo Da Strada, an Italian restaurant specializing in Roman cuisine.

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Davide takes huge pride in his work, loves making cocktails, and some of his favorite mixology topics are teaching ice carving techniques, and talking about whiskey and amari. 

Joanna Carpenter (She/Her) is a mixologist, consultant, and educator based in New York City. Over the course of 17 years in the industry, she has worked on all sides of the bar, developed programming with globally recognized venues and brands, and spoken about race and gender equity at Tales of the Cocktail, Bar Convent Brooklyn, Healthy Pour, and others.

 

She is the co-founder of grassroots language organization 86 the Barrier, and her work and advocacy has been featured in SevenFiftyDaily, NPR, and The New York Times, among others. Keep up at @thejoannac on Instagram.

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​"I love de-mystifying cocktails so that they feel accessible to folx at home. It's important to me to make everyone feel welcome, like they can ask all of the questions they've never been able to ask a bartender, and can walk away from class feeling like they not only had a good laugh but really learned something. I love breaking down "why" we use certain ingredients and do things a certain way, and helping people see that cocktails don't have to be this elitist, untouchable idea."

Sam Treadway has bartended for over 15 years from his college days in a tavern in Minnesota to a fancy new hotel in Seattle then back to Boston to learn at Eastern Standard and Drink. After a year long vacation bartending in Hawaii, Sam has returned to MA for good. He created Backbar with the help of an amazing team of bartenders, and he has lucked out again and again with great hires.

 

Backbar has won local and national recognition and Sam has been a finalist in many cocktail competitions including currently being the international champ for Giffard's West Cup competition. He lives in Medford with his wife, dog and cat.

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​"I'm proud to say I'm a nerd in general, but particularly around cocktail history. I love learning about how drinks and styles came about. I'm a tiki enthusiast and look forward to teaching you about how tiki culture got started!"