Dale DeGroff: Cocktailian and Historian

The Restaurant Guys

This is a Library Selection from 2005

The Banter

The Guys share a New York Times restaurant review that panned a theme restaurant called Ninja New York. Check out the link in the notes to see how long it lasted.

The Conversation

The Restaurant Guys welcome old friend Dale DeGroff, King Cocktail, to discuss his work with the Museum of the American Cocktail and the history of cocktail resurgence around the world. They discuss attributes of a great bartender, Dale’s work in cocktail education and tips for creating fantastic drinks at home. You won’t want to miss this conversation with a legend!

The Inside Track

The Guys met Dale at an informal lunch group called The Red Meat Club back in 1993 where Dale claimed that cocktails can be just as complex and interesting as wine. Not convinced, The Guys went to The Rainbow Room, where they were schooled by the King of Cocktails himself. They left convinced.

Dale helped them create New Jersey's first craft-cocktail program at Stage Left Steak and inaugurated it with a Degroff Cocktail Dinner there in 1994! The cocktail program there is now the oldest craft-cocktail program in America. The King and The Guys have remained good friends and collaborators all these decades! All hail The King!

Bio

Dale DeGroff is the author of best-selling cocktail books: The Essential Cocktail, winner of the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail Spirit Award for Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book, and The Craft of the Cocktail and its revision The New Craft of the Cocktail Book which is the best-selling cocktail book of all time!

He is the founding president of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans, founded in 2005. He is also a partner and consultant in the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) group.

The James Beard Foundation awarded DeGroff the 2009 Wine & Spirits Professional Award, and in 2015 inducted him into the Who's Who in Food & Beverage in America. He received the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from Nightclub & Bar Magazine, the 2008 Tales of the Cocktail Lifetime Achievement Award. He continues to teach, lead and tell the story of the cocktail.

He is the co-creator of DeGroff Bitter Aperitivo and DeGroff New World Amaro.

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