What is your secret to longevity in the bar industry?

“Simplicity creates a legacy and I hope bars are turning back to that, focusing a little more on hospitality and less about the art of mixology. One should go with the other.

“The problem is with young people they want everything immediately, and don’t want to be patient. I started to bloom when I was 50 and before that I was creating a legacy. The biggest dream for a bartender is to be able to immortalise ourselves with a great cocktail that maybe 200 years down the line is still requested. 

“I embrace young people, I embrace what these guys do and I never stop learning, because the day I say I learned everything, is the end of me. Every day is different, you never know who walks through the door. And it’s beautiful when you sit down with a young person and they say ‘Maestro I have this idea’ and it blows you away.”

You’ve created a couple of classics, why do you think modern bartenders don’t make that a priority?

“Young bartenders kick my backside when it comes to the art of mixing, they really are chemists. They want a rotovap and all this equipment to create something totally unique and special, but the more difficult it is to remake, the less likely it is to become a classic.

“Bartenders often create drinks for themselves not for others, because others might come, taste your drink, love your drink, but they can’t make it. Yes, let's keep that practice, but there also has to be a certain element of simplicity that a customer can take away from the bar and make themselves.

“Great cocktails travel, and also the simplicity of the name, using ingredients that can be found anywhere around the world.”

Where do you see bar culture now?

“The bar is somewhere where people come and are entertained, but in my days it was also a place where you should read the people you have in front of you. Read the person, what they do and how they drink, don’t just shut your eyes and serve, that’s the difference, host your room. I think it’s about the culture of caring.”