I think maybe I’ve just gotten older and I’ve realized that I was never very good at it. When I was younger, I thought I was good at everything, so…

Without touch. That’s tough. I never thought of that, actually. (laughs) Behind the bar it’s just like, it’s just so noisy, and everything’s just going fast, it’s like you need all your senses. At the end, knowing where everything is, like maybe seeing–

Yeah. I’ve done dining events in dark rooms where you don’t see anything, so I’ve experienced that, I’ll say that would be my choice. Like the only one maybe, in a way.

But I do need to touch and smell and things like this.

Maybe I’d choose smell.

Yeah.

Last fight was eight months ago.

Yes. But it was a quick one. It was just somebody at the bar being too drunk and I had to escort him out, and instead of leaving nicely, he started to try to swing at me, so I just protected myself but I didn’t go too far.

Hard to tell–hard to count. I’m doing multiple projects right now, I have my own consulting company and catering, and then I also like manage couple hotels and bars.

Happy? A lot of yoga (laughs)…helps me keep my ADD in check…

I plan 2 weeks in advance, so I can make sure everybody’s happy, and I do achieve the things that people ask me to do.

Yes. (laughs)

Lot 45 started this summer. Bushwick is full of street art, and I’m a big fan of street art to an extent that I actually like to learn how to do my own pieces, how to do stencils, how to draw them, and so that’s why like I wanted to do this project in this neighborhood, and I decided to do a couple of pieces of mine and then work of artists from this neighborhood, like Cost or Solace, and I did their pieces on the drinks, and then my own pieces as well.

It’s mostly word of mouth. First thing I do when I start a project, I try to know the neighborhoods. I walk around, see what other bars there are, what they’re doing. I’m kind of acting like a spy for a second, and I just see what they’re using, what products, and then from there I’ll try to make sure it fits for the neighborhood.

Yes. I’ve been living in Williamsburg for over 10 years. It’s actually where I opened my first business, a little shop where I was cooking with my sisters, it was called Potato Cafe. We were making baked potatoes and different toppings. We'd just spend the whole day in the kitchen, basically, and I was having fun with my sisters.

Well, basically, I moved to New York when I was 19, and like aspiring singers or actors or things like this, you start working in the restaurant industry. I got a job at the Coffee Shop in Union Square, and I did every single position that I can think of over there, which means being a busboy, a server, a maître d’, a host, a coffee boy, service bartender, barback, bartender, line cook (laughs), and–it was basically school.

Yes. The rush, the speed…it’s kind of like entertainment. When I started being behind the bar, I just felt like that was my stage. And, fortunately enough, I ended up at L’Orange Bleue with a bartender who was also one of the owners of Employees Only, and he inspired me to do cocktails. From there, I just experimented on my own drinks and every time I was bartending somewhere else, I would always try to get involved in the cocktails.

Well, lately, I’m mostly managing, I’m not really bartending anymore, so now I can kind of use the term mixologist, because bartenders are behind the bar the whole time, and they work 5, 6, 7 nights a week behind the bar, and I don't do this anymore. I'm the guy backstage now, or just watching everybody and showing them techniques and how to do things, so now I feel comfortable using the term mixologist, but when I was behind the bar, I always used the term bartender. I never used the term mixologist, because a mixologist can be somebody that doesn’t bartend.

–yeah–

Oh, I’ve done it like a dozen times.

It happens quite often. When I was at Mulberry Project I was doing bespoke cocktails, and people would ask me to do something that would not be my taste, but they’re just like trying to make sure they taste right for that person, and you’re having a conversation to try to see what they want exactly. Everybody has different taste buds. Some people like sweet things, some people like it sour, some people want dry, it’s not one thing, you know, like in New York you have so many places that do great burgers, and you can have arguments for hours and hours about where to find the best burger or the best pizza, because everybody has a different taste bud.

So there’s no best place.

Punsch. It’s a Swedish liqueur spice.

For stencils, like for coffee stencils, I use powder, like cinnamon–

–nutmeg, things like this, which is fun to do, but for cocktails, I actually use bitters, like Amaros or Cynar, or some Angostura bitters.

In spices, I like something like Solbeso that’s something new that I’ve been playing around with, which is made with cacao, but Punsch has been one of those products I’ve been using a lot for the last 6 months. And Allspice is something that I use every year for winter, ‘cause it’s perfect.

In a month? Around 25 to 30.

When I do a new project, like this, yes.

People bring me new bottles, and I taste them and try to play with it and see if it works with what I’m working on.

Well, it all depends. Singani has a clear taste, so it’s a spirit you can use by itself. There’s a lot of spirits that you have to use just as mixers. You’re not gonna do a full cocktail using just Bonal, or just Combier grapefruit, or St. Germain–you’re gonna use other liquors with it, so that’s the difference.

Yeah. It is. It is a smaller target, because some of those products, you actually can do it yourself as a syrup, for getting the taste, or you’re just using fresh produce instead.

Oh yeah.

All the time. The classics are the basics. To create any new kind of drink, you think of how those classics are balanced, and you’re able to create a new kind of cocktail by using those components.

My favorite is Vieux Carré–

Vieux Carré is a cocktail made with Peychaud bitter, Angostura bitters, orange oil, we use cognac and sweet vermouth, and rye whiskey.

And-

And then you use a spoon of Benedictine. And I did variation of this with by using Singani once.

Any spirits or bottles that have insects, or like a liquor that has a snake in it, like how like Mezcal used to put in scorpions or bugs, things that have nothing to do with the spirit. It’s just a marketing scheme.

For me, it was mostly, “Oh, we can’t sell it so let’s put a scorpion in there and sell it.”

And then, you know, the snake thing is just not very appealing (laughs).

Well, I grew up in Europe, in Switzerland, so you go to bars at the age of 14.

Yeah, you drink beer, and since you’re 14, you have no clue of what to drink, so you’re drinking the fruitiest and girliest drinks, and you think you’re manly. (laughs)

Yes. I played tennis, I was running, cross-country skiing, 50 percent of my time was sports.

Yeah. The adrenaline rush got into me.

It’s similar to when I do sports… I’m addicted to being busy, like having the place packed and thinking, “How am I gonna serve all these people right now?” And to be organized and do it, running around, it’s the same thing in sports. If you’re just concentrating and moving slow, you’re not getting the adrenaline rush, and then once you’re getting closer into the game, you have an adrenaline rush, and you’re points are getting faster, you’re thinking faster, everything is more accurate and same thing when you're running. After 5 miles, you start getting the adrenaline rush, and you don't feel the pain, you're just like smiling the whole time. And in this industry, all you do is, basically you serve things, you’re getting crushed, but you’re smiling. You keep a happy face even when you shouldn’t be (laughs).

But it’s also like a stage for me, I see it like that.

I pretty much enjoy everything.

Even the business part. It’s a hustle, but the hustle is part of the business and once you’re getting people in the door, you see that you did something right.

Yes. Every day. I try to learn something new almost every day behind the bar, a new trick, a new cocktail. On slow days, I usually ask my bartenders to give me a challenge, like any ingredients they think of, I create a cocktail with them.

Usually, when I give classes or when I’m training people, I start by showing them cocktails first. I try to inspire them on how to make a good drink, a balanced drink, and why it’s important to learn how to measure drinks, like you’ll meet bartenders that bartend 5, 6 years, 10 years, and they would not know how to make a Manhattan, they would not know how to make a Sazerac or Old Fashioned, so it’s always fun to show that aspect. I’ve been surprised a couple times, like a lot of people would not know how to shake a drink, they’ve been in this industry for years and just never actually shook a drink properly. So it’s always fun, and then when you actually show them those tricks, they get excited and they want to learn, and that’s where it makes my job easier.

One thing that’s happening more and more lately in bars, are cocktails on draft. I’ve been seeing that a whole lot more.

Pre-made cocktails on tap.

They’re doing it in the Hamptons, in Brooklyn, even the Upper East Side.

It could be pretty much anything.

They’re classics.

It’s the speed. (laughs) It’s for volume and it’s kind of fun to do a drink like this, it’s just, “Here you go, here’s a cocktail.” It’s quick and easy.

But one of those trends, you know, it’s starting now, you never know, it could disappear in 2 years.

When I started bartending, there was no such thing, people were just drinking vodka soda, vodka cranberry, and then people started asking for Mojitos, Manhattan and Old Fashioned, and that was it. And then all of a sudden, people changed their taste buds and started getting into cocktails and you’ll meet 21-year-olds that are drinking bourbon cocktails, and they know their drinks. It changes by generation.

Oh, that happens all the time. A lot of people will be name-dropping a cocktail and I say that’s from just from a bar that you went to that you like. That happens quite often.

But I always try to accommodate them, so you ask them what kind of spirit it is, and how it tastes, and you try to create something different, but in that taste bud that they were asking you for.

Yeah. I try to not give preferred treatment, I like using spirits that fit for each place and each venue, how they look, where they’re located. Like there’s multiple gins they can use, and sometimes I’ll be using one for a certain bar, and then the other one will have another one, and another one, because of what kind of spices they use, you know, and if I’m doing a bar in Brooklyn I’m gonna try to use a gin that’s made in Brooklyn to show the face of the neighborhood. So you just have to see what fits for the place.

Oh yes, it happens.

Yes. I’m not gonna say Tanqueray, but a major brand will come in and ask me this, but when you’re making cocktails, if you made a cocktail for a reason with some particular spirit, you can’t really swap it, you know, it’s like some use more juniper, some use something else, so there’s a reason why you’re using those products, you know. Brand ambassadors will come to you and be, “Hey, but my product is better,” and it’s like, yeah, it tastes great for a certain kind of thing, but it doesn’t work for this. But maybe at the next place I'll be doing, that might be the product I’ll use. I'm doing so many projects all the time, in the end I'm able to satisfy people. (laughs)

No.

I think I’m an adrenaline junkie, I get excited by doing more and more projects all the time and being busy. It wakes me up early and gives me a big smile every time.

It’s unpredictable. When you open a project, and it could be working for right now, but then 5 years from now, it might not work out. In New York, it’s such a fast pace, a new place opens every day, so your place will be hot for a good 2 years if you’re lucky, and then afterwards it’s gonna be something else, and then you have to change a little bit of your project.

Yeah, but even like McNally, like he opened Pastis, and Pastis was great, it was perfect for the neighborhood at thetime, but then the scene changed. 10 years, 15 years ago, people were going to places to be seen, and then it became more like, “No, I want to go to foodie places more than just being seen.” Not saying the food was not great–the food was great at Pastis–but it was a place to be seen, you know. People don’t really care about this anymore, so it changes. Who knows, maybe 5 years from now, it’s gonna be back to that again. Like the Sex and the City days.

They always find money to go get a drink, but there are changes. Before the crash, people would be buying more expensive bottles of wines, that’s one thing that got me moved into cocktails, ‘cause I saw people couldn’t afford wine anymore, like as a regular thing. I remember, I used to sell 500 dollar bottles of wine, like at least like 6, 7 times a week. And that was regular. All of a sudden, the crash happened, and it would be maybe once a month, twice a month, like a huge change, and then people started drinking more cocktails.

It’s mostly by neighborhood. If you go to Meatpacking, a drink will be 18 dollars, sometimes even 24, depends which places you go to, but it does go all the way to that extent, which is–which is insane. But that’s their rent, the rents are like 30,000, 40,000 dollars, and then you go downtown, the drinks will be 14 dollars. You go to Brooklyn, the cocktails will be 10 dollars. So it all depends what neighborhood you have.

Oh yeah, I got pushed out of a couple places that I owned, because my rent went from 14,000 to 28,000. It doubled. You can’t afford that.

No. Only mine (laughs).

This is my thing. It makes me happy every day, going to work and doing what you like to do is the number one thing. I’m always motivated, and motivation is the key, I think.

Yes.

Yeah. I run at 4 o’clock in the morning, I do all my training, I keep running marathons, Ironman triathlons, play tennis, ski, hike, like everything. (laughs)

Most of my friends are in this business.

It’s a little bit of everything. It’s the industry, and then afterwards, other things.

Like, luckily for me, I’m able to do a lot of sports, so I’m able to do things outside of the business, so my mind gets–

Yeah. Recharged. Yeah.

Yes. Many times. (laughs) Like, I’ll be training somebody and I just know from the get-go this is not for them. You can tell from their body language and how unexcited they are, you just see it, it’s just like–please try to find something else (laughs).

I’m Swiss, so I try to be as neutral as possible (laughs).

Yes. You have to entertain your guests, you have to show them a good time, and you have to be able to talk to them, and deal with people.

Well, I’m seeing more people aiming for that. When I first started in this industry, a lot of people were not lifers, they were like, “This is my part time job, I'm in college, or I'm taking acting classes,” or, you know, modeling, things like this.

Now people say, Oh, I want to do this, you know, I want to learn how to serve, I want to learn how to make drinks, I want to learn how to manage, or cook, and I see more and more of that.

No, but I would like to get a little bit more involved uptown, which is one market I haven’t hit, like the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, there’s a lot of movement, there’s a scene that’s starting up there.

I try to travel as much as possible. My dad used to work for Swissair, so when I was a kid I pretty much grew up in a plane. Actually, my first trip, I was 3 days old. I flew from the U.S. to Switzerland. I had my first American passport at two days old.

I try to, yeah. I was in Puerto Rico and I found a great cocktail bar down there, in London I went to a couple cocktail bars out there too, so every time I travel, I try to see things. I’m seeing a lot of things happening in Texas right now–

Austin, Dallas.

Yeah.

Yes. When I was 21, I was drinking the cheapest thing possible, I was not even thinking of having a Sazerac–

–and now they do.

When I try to make a drink for a restaurant, I try to make sure those two fit together, that you’re able to have that dish and that drink, to try to make it fit like a marriage.

Well, the chef here is French-Algerian, and she likes to play with a lot of spices and herbs, so I try to create cocktails using sage, rosemary, thyme, go Mediterranean on that. This one drink I do here is as Mediterranean as it gets, I use some Ilegal Mezcal, some yogurt, homemade rosemary syrup, and lemon and bitters.