Interview: beverage pro Paul Sanguinetti (Ray’s & Stark Bar)

Bartender Los Angeles

INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

How do you go about naming cocktails?

It just hits me. I have various inspirations, but I have a love, obviously, for naming cocktails. I’ve been a writer. I’ve rapped from time to time. I used to freestyle back in the day. When I was younger, I was in some hip-hop bands. To me, having those roots and knowing freestyling and hip-hop, it makes you quick with words and ideas and how to flip things or try a way to make it fresh. A lot of that comes out of having that freestyle mentality, and be able to look at something and see it five different ways, or portray it five different ways. A lot of it comes from that. When it comes to cocktail names, it has to have some sort of meaning. It has to have some sort of relevance, or some sort of story. When you have a great cocktail and it has some random name, it means a lot less than a cocktail that actually has a name that’s relevant or has a story to it.

What’s the latest cocktail story that you’re telling in the glass?

I’m working on a drink for here. It’s a riff on a Death and Taxes, which is one of my favorite classic cocktails, which is with gin, scotch, sweet vermouth and Benedictine. I’m doing a variation on that called Gerard Depardieu’s Unpaid Taxes. He’s moving away from France because he doesn’t want to pay his taxes. I’m doing it with gin and scotch, but I’m using Dolin Blanc, which is a white sweet vermouth, a different flavor profile, Lillet Blanc, as well as Benedictine, so putting a French twist on that kind of cocktail. It’s just one of the latest ones.


Cocktail Los Angeles

What’s your top selling cocktail at Ray’s and Stark Bar?

One of them is the Kubrick Fashioned. To me, it’s almost a marketing experimenting. Everyone’s Old Fashioned crazed nowadays. Common consumer cocktails, people are just getting into it because these are drinks they know because they watch “Mad Men.” Now people who aren’t quite cocktail savvy can still go to a cocktail bar and order Old Fashioneds. To me, it’s one of my favorite cocktails, because it’s very stripped down. It’s not a sweet cocktail. It’s bourbon heavy, not masked by too many flavors, or citrus. It’s one of my favorite cocktails. I basically did a riff on an Old Fashioned, put some Miracle Mile Forbidden Bitters in there, spiced simple syrup for a cooler season, called it Kubrick Fashioned, and it sells like crazy.

Will the Kubrick Fashioned still sell after the Kubrick exhibit ends?

I’m sure it will, but by that point, we’ll be moving into our spring and summer menus, so I’ll probably be taking it off anyway.

What do you look for when you’re hiring somebody to work behind the bar?

Somebody who’s not an idiot.

How can you tell?

You can tell. I’m very specific in what I’m looking for back there, because it’s a fine line between – you want someone who thinks outside the box but still follows protocol – you want somebody who’s creative and has good temperament. To me, at the end of the day, it is about guest service. You can make the best cocktails in the world, but if you don’t have any personality, if you’re not entertaining to guests – I’m looking for that personality, that guest service – as soon as you walk into a place, you’re greeted and feel welcome. Somebody who can read a guest, know what they want. It’s a combination of all those things: personality, guest service and technique, and somebody who will work well as a team member, work well with other people behind the bar, and not be too much of a maverick. At the same time, I want somebody who’s a little bit of a maverick, because everybody loves a maverick.

What sort of music do you like to listen to behind the bar?

Unfortunately, I don’t get to play my own music behind the bar, but if I did, it would definitely be hip-hop and funk and maybe some R&B and soul. I’m a big reggae fan too, but I think my main go-tos are funk, hip-hop and soul.

What’s the last concert you saw?

I think it was Herbie Hancock at the Hollywood Bowl. He played with Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter. He had a bunch of people that came out. Those guys just ripped it. It was pretty insane.

Is there anybody you’ve never worked with behind the bar that you’d really like to mix it up with?

I’ve done a couple guest bartending stints with Julian Cox. I’d love to work with him on a more long term basis. I think we share similar passions, and also share a similar approach. Whenever me and him hang out, or we are doing some guest bartending, I’ve never laughed so much in my entire life. We have fun, and act the fool, but still make great, amazing drinks. To me, he exemplifies everything that’s good in cocktails and cocktail culture. He has a very creative mind, and I think we have similar ideas, similar approaches. If we ever worked together, we’d do some pretty wild things.

Where and what do you like to drink when you’re not working?

When I’m not working, I’ve really been into gins lately. I love a good gin martini with orange bitters, or riffs on that. I love Vespers, so gin, vodka, lillet. Really clean cocktails that aren’t too sweet. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for whiskey, so I’ve been enjoying drinking whiskeys, just a couple cubes, or neat. I enjoy the experience based on their own merit. I haven’t really been drinking cocktails quite as much, but it’s getting appreciation for the spirit themselves. Tequila, I’ve been getting into lately. I love sipping good tequila like Sieta Leguas Reposado, Fortaleza, Tequila Ocho.

Who makes the best martini in town?

I had one recently at The Varnish, from Jason Hubert. He made it just the way I like it, just the right dilution, perfect temperature on it. He makes a pretty good martini. Dan Warrilow, over at Son of a Gun. He makes me a good martini, a good Gin and Itz, which is another thing I’ve really been into, which is gin and sweet vermouth. It’s a matter of pairing the right gin, the right vermouth, and the right temperature.

What is the right gin and the right vermouth in that case?

Aviation Gin makes a good Gin and Itz. So Aviation and Carpano Antica is a good combination. Aviation has a nice roundness to it, a nice viscosity. So does Carpano Antica. I find those go pretty well together.

Dave Fernie at Pour Vous makes an amazing Pink Gin, almost too amazing.

That’s just gin and bitters?

Yeah, gin and Angostura bitters. I really enjoy Martin Miller’s for that.

What’s the last meal that you cooked at home?

I love cooking and very rarely cook at home these days, which is kind of sad. Other than warming up soup when I’ve gotten sick, I made a nice Bolognese. I’m half Italian, so I love my pastas. I have a really great Bolognese recipe with a slow sauce. You start with some pork and some beef, sometimes turkey or veal – I usually don’t cook with veal – you slow cook all these ingredients, finely dice the celery and carrots and garlic – and slow cook that for 45 minutes. Then add a little butter and olive oil and you add tomatoes and slow cook that for awhile. You add your meat. The whole process takes four hours to cook the sauce, but when you’re done, it’s the most amazing thing. I think I bought some jazz records at Amoeba, went to the farmers market, hung out at home and cooked that up.

What would you drink with that?

That, I would probably drink a nice light soft red wine, so maybe a nice Dolcetto from Italy, which would go really well with it. You could go Chianti, or maybe Nebbiolo. You can even go Pinot Noir, but I would drink a nice Italian Dolcetto.

Address: 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

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