Intelligent Bartender

It`s not every day that a bartender gets to work with the likes of Dale DeGroff, much less get to share some drinks and listen to his stories. This past weekend I had the pleasure of both at the Canadian Restaurant and FoodService Association (CRFA) show in Toronto.

Rob, Leo, Gavin, Dale and Scott closing the last show at CRFA 2009

Widely credited with bringing the modern Cosmopolitan recipe to market, Dale has been a true shaper of the beverage industry and was making handcrafted cocktails long before it was in “vogue” to make them.

It reminds me of an interesting story that Dale told, about the “re-birth” of the Cosmopolitan, when we were sitting in Canoe’s Bar 54 floors above Toronto. The story started in the early 90’s, the first time that the Grammys had been held in New York instead of in Los Angeles. The after party was at the Rainbow room where Dale was tending bar. For those who never made it, the Rainbow room was one large room with plenty of table seating, 3 large VIP areas, and a large central revolving dance floor. In VIP 2, sat Frank Sinatra and a few dozen friends sat drinking magnums of Dom Perignon. Over in VIP 3, Bob Dylan and his boys (and girls) drank Jack Daniels. But all eyes were on VIP 1 where Madonna and her entourage drank Dale’s Cosmopolitans.

The New Yorker magazine snapped a picture of the Material girl that night with the caption, “Madonna drinks Cosmopolitans at the Grammy afterparty, Rainbow Room, New York.)

The next day when the picture was circulated to magazines around the world, Dale DeGroff’s phone started to ring. I don’t think it ever stopped. Dale used this as one of many platforms to build the DeGroff Brand, a cocktail empire, and a following that continues to shape cocktail culture almost 20 years later.

King Cocktail and BartenderOne enjoying the drinks and the view at Canoe

As Dale tells it, the Cosmopolitan was originally Vodka, lime cordial and cranberry juice, and while he thought the name was great, Dale modified the recipe to the one we know today, made with citrus vodka, cointreau, fresh lime juice and cranberry juice topped with a flamed orange zest.

It was a pleasure working with both Dale and his son Leo, and we look forward to seeing them again.