A Date with Destiny

July 28, 2010 4:24 AM PT

By Seth Combs
Photos by James Norton(Published in the August 2010 issue)

When it comes to her name, Destiny Newton’s heard all the lines.

“The one that I hear most often is, ‘Oh, did you know you’re my destiny,’” she says. “All I can say is, ‘Oh, no, I’ve never heard that one before.’”

She may resemble your typical beach-going babe, but The FleetWood bartender is a hard-drinking, fly-fishing nature girl from Northern California who’d rather be riding horses outside than a mechanical bull in a nightclub. And starting in August, she’ll be serving it up at The FleetWoods’s beachside sequel, The BeachWood, in Pacific Beach.

Just before heading out on a camping trip, the fiery country gal hips us to everything from the best college major for bartenders to the drink that she claims real women imbibe (and no, it’s not a glass of Chardonnay).

PacificSD: Nice cowboy boots. Where’d you say you were from?
Destiny Newton: I’m from a small town outside of Chico. I moved here three years ago.
So, would you consider yourself a cowgirl at heart?
Newton: Yeah, for sure. I would definitely take going out camping over going to a club any day. But, I also enjoy going out on the town. When my girlfriends come down to visit me, it’s on. We go out, and we go big.
What do you consider the best things about both the Woods?
Newton: I love sports, and when I work at FleetWood during the Padres games, it gets that sports-bar vibe going. There’ll be that same atmosphere at the beach, but it’s more of a vacation vibe. In Downtown there’s more business-people, and the beach is going to be more of a party.
What do you do outside of the bar?
Newton: I’m going to college for communications.
Well, that’ll come in handy if you keep bartending.
Newton: [Laughs] Yeah, the job helps with the speech classes a lot.
What’s your drink of choice?
Newton: Jack Daniels.
And...?
Newton: And nothing. Sometimes I need a Coke back, but it’s always been my favorite.
So, you get some bad pick-up lines, but what could a customer do to get your attention, if anything?
Newton: Just ask me how my day is going. I love to get to know people, and I’ll make sure they’re taken care of. I love making people happy by getting them buzzed.
So, uh, how’s your day going?
Newton: [Laughs] I’m going camping, but when I come back you’re doing a shot of Jack with me.

Specialty drink: A Washington Apple (Crown Royal, Sour Apple schnapps, cranberry juice and splash of 7 Up).
“Basically, anything with whiskey. They’re simple, but everyone gets really happy after they drink mine-probably because I’m a little heavy with the Crown.”

Biggest tip: $700 “It was a friend. I think he was really hammered and didn’t realize what he was doing, but I didn’t tell him.”

Notable celebrity customer: Jennifer Love Hewitt. “I got all giddy, because where I’m from, that never happens.”

Embarrassing story: “When I was doing bottle service, the floor was wet and I fell flat on my ass. Of course, I had a tray of drinks in my hand.”