Tony C: What first gave you the Bartending bug and when did you realise you where hooked?
Tony A-G: I was very fortunate to have grown up in the bar business. My cousin, (although I always called her Aunt), Helen David, has owned the Brass Rail Bar in Port Huron, Michigan for 68 years. As a child, I would go into the bar with my dad, get a Shirley Temple and watch my Uncle Charlie and cousins Saul and Tony at work. They seemed like higher beings with their pressed white shirts and ties, standing behind the stick surrounded by marble, mahogany, Tiffany lamps, large mirror and all those bottles. On my 18th birthday I had my first legal cocktail with my Mom and Dad and marvelled as my cousin Tony made me all the classics; Tom Collins in the signature glass, Old Fashioned, Pink Squirrel, Side Car and my then favourite, the Manhattan. At the age of 20, after years of going down to the basement and putting empty beer bottles back in their cases and lugging up full cases of beer to stock the coolers, my cousin Helen put me behind the bar. She has been my greatest inspiration.
I knew I was hooked in 1993 when I moved to New York City and had the pleasure of meeting Dale DeGroff at the Rainbow Room. Up until this point I was a bartender who was really an actor, or should I say, struggling actor. After watching Dale work and seeing his passion for the profession it all became very clear to me. Here, I was a part of this amazing profession which I had total control over. From that day forward, I set out to become the best bartender I could be. That was the day it became a career for me and not such a part time gig while I was waiting for my other career to take off. That was the day that things really got fun.

Tony C: I know that feeling. I think that once the decision to make it a full time career is made then all of your energy and passion goes into it. Do you think enthusiasm is necessary to be a good barman?
Tony A-G: One thing I quickly learned is that you can't teach enthusiasm and you can't teach passion. The best one can hope to do is inspire the passion that each of us has within. I have always believed that people are attracted to passionate people, and both want to work with and are inspired by them. I would rather work with a bartender who may be a little green but is enthusiastic, who has a desire to learn and become a professional bartender. It is unfortunate that there are a lot of people out there who are simply doing the eight hours, miserable, making the tokes and simply going through the motions. Life is too short not to do something you love to do, every day. My cousin told me a long time ago that if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. Great bartenders are made, not born. I can teach you to make a great Negroni, I can't teach you to be excited to do it.

Tony C: What drinks thrill you the most?
Tony A-G: Anything with Campari. I am a huge Campari fan and whenever I find a bartender who makes a great Negroni I know I've found a new friend. I am a huge Mojito fan too, and that is my drink of choice when the temperature heats up here in Las Vegas, when friends come over to enjoy the pool. This is another drink that when I discover a bar that makes them well it quickly becomes a destination for me. I am also big into working with fresh, seasonal fruits and pairing them with the wonderful new spirits available of late.

Tony C: One thing I have noticed that knocks back bartenders enthusiasm is criticism of a drink that they have made. How would you recommend that bartenders deal with this situation?
Tony A-G: That is one area that needs to be handled very delicately. I am one who always appreciates constructive criticism. I may not agree, but will try it that way to see if the criticism fits. After all, my goal is always to serve the best drink possible. I work with lots of bartenders, and when tasting the drinks they have prepared I try to be very diplomatic about my criticism, like: "Try dialling back the lemon juice a little and tell me what you think", or: "What do you think about bringing up the gin and cutting back the Maraschino?" I recently had a terrible experience with a bartender and a Mojito. He had recommended the drink with much enthusiasm and it was perhaps the worst Mojito I had every had, totally undrinkable. When he asked me how I liked it I felt I had to tell him the truth, which, as you can imagine did not go over well. He got the manager and took the drink off my bill, but the fault did not fall on the bartenders skills but on management for not supplying the tools and training to make a great drink. I left wondering how many Mojitos were recommended to guests who were trying the drink for the very first time and, in turn, may never order one again. You must remember, however, that no matter how great the cocktail you will always find someone who won't care for it, after all, peoples tastes do differ. I like to say that's why they don't just make vanilla ice cream.