There is something perpetually boyish about bartender Toby Cecchini. It might have something to do with the curling thatch of hair that flops over his forehead. Or his round, wire spectacles, which give way to a signature look of wide-eyed naiveté. But then he says something like, “This place is such a spectacular shit-hole,” and destroys any greenness with a flourish of adjective-heavy wit.
Cecchini Style
White Negroni Sbagliato
Many believe, like Regan, that it was first mixed by Cook. Others believe that Dale DeGroff concocted it at New York City’s Rainbow Room, or that Toby Cecchini first devised a Cosmo in 1988 during his tenure at New York’s Odeon. However, all agree that Cecchini popularized the vodka-and-cranberry ’Tini. By Toby Cecchini March 5, 2014 6:12 pm The Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has teamed up with a trio of Scandinavian coffee and design aficionados to open Bar Zingaro, the coolest new cafe in.
The boulevardier cocktail is an alcoholic drink composed of whiskey, sweet vermouth, and Campari. Its creation is ascribed to Erskine Gwynne, an American-born writer who founded a monthly magazine in Paris called Boulevardier, which appeared from 1927 to 1932. Cecchini owned the Manhattan bar Passerby. He is also the author of Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life and a columnist for The New York Times' T Magazine.
Toby Cecchini's sbagliato version of the modern-classic.
Long Island Bar Gimlet
Brooklyn bartender Toby Cecchini serves this rendition of the Gimlet at The Long Island Bar. His version is infused with ginger-lime cordial and served on the rocks.
The Mess-cal
A mega-sized take on a request for a drink that brings to mind 'a rabid polar bear wrestling a naked clown,' The Mess-cal is well suited to its name.
More Recipes →A native Midwesterner, Cecchini has tended bar in New York City since the 1980s and is credited with the creation of the Cosmopolitan. Though he treats the blush vodka drink (created at the Odeon in 1988, to be exact) like an albatross, there’s no denying his critical role in helping shape the identity of an entire decade of urban drinking. Cecchini went on to open the much-loved Chelsea bar Passerby, which was forced to shutter in 2008 after a decade in business. He’s finally reappeared—hair flopped, glasses perched—behind the counter at The Long Island Bar, his brand new watering hole built into a long-defunct, silver-sided diner on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, only a few blocks from his Cobble Hill residence. Some nights he can be found in the back room rooting on the Greenbay Packers and drinking beer, and, on others, studiously taking orders and stirring Boulevardiers, quite at home in his new-old fashioned digs. —Leslie Pariseau
What do want to be when you grow up?
Certainly not an adult.
Certainly not an adult.
Best thing you ever drank:
A tiny dram of Delamain 1951 Cognac with my father on his deathbed.
A tiny dram of Delamain 1951 Cognac with my father on his deathbed.
Worst thing you ever drank:
Arguably the same as above.
Arguably the same as above.
First time you ever got drunk:
One day after tennis practice in high school, a friend and I set about very categorically to “get drunk,” not at all certain how exactly to effectuate that. His parents were out and we found a bottle of Tanqueray gin. We had no idea how to drink it, really, so we just poured enormous glasses of it warm into huge, ‘70s-era wine goblets and choked it down. The predictable technicolor bloodbath ensued.
One day after tennis practice in high school, a friend and I set about very categorically to “get drunk,” not at all certain how exactly to effectuate that. His parents were out and we found a bottle of Tanqueray gin. We had no idea how to drink it, really, so we just poured enormous glasses of it warm into huge, ‘70s-era wine goblets and choked it down. The predictable technicolor bloodbath ensued.
If you had to listen to one album on loop, for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Wayne Newton’s Greatest Hits or Vanilla Ice’s To The Extreme? Alright, I’ll take Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life.
Wayne Newton’s Greatest Hits or Vanilla Ice’s To The Extreme? Alright, I’ll take Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life.
What’s the weirdest hobby you currently have or have had?
Walking train tracks. Literally. In high school I used to love to go on what I termed “linear walkabout,” wherein I’d walk for miles and miles balancing on one train rail without ever stepping off.
Walking train tracks. Literally. In high school I used to love to go on what I termed “linear walkabout,” wherein I’d walk for miles and miles balancing on one train rail without ever stepping off.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known five years ago?
How to make a perfect brandy crusta. I lied; I still don’t know that.
How to make a perfect brandy crusta. I lied; I still don’t know that.
Toby Cecchini Instagram
Weirdest cocktail experiment you’ve ever attempted:
I’ve been trying for years to make the perfect cocktail iteration of the dessert bananas foster. Its technical difficulty is perfectly paralleled by its profound dumbness.
I’ve been trying for years to make the perfect cocktail iteration of the dessert bananas foster. Its technical difficulty is perfectly paralleled by its profound dumbness.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not eating, drinking or drink-making?
Modesty prevents my putting that in print, I’m afraid.
Modesty prevents my putting that in print, I’m afraid.
Weirdest drink request you’ve ever gotten:
A guy came into my bar and, without any prompting, asked me to make him a drink that was a mockup of a rabid polar bear wrestling a naked clown. I blinked, then made him repeat it, which he did, verbatim.
A guy came into my bar and, without any prompting, asked me to make him a drink that was a mockup of a rabid polar bear wrestling a naked clown. I blinked, then made him repeat it, which he did, verbatim.
Toby Cecchini Photo
Your favorite bar, and why:
The Joynt in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The Joynt in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Best meal you’ve ever had:
Krystal Burgers in New Orleans this past week. Oh, I’m sorry, you said the best?
Krystal Burgers in New Orleans this past week. Oh, I’m sorry, you said the best?
What’s your go-to drink in a cocktail bar?
The Sidecar.
The Sidecar.
In a dive bar?
The Ramos Gin Fizz with smoked gin, elderflower tincture and quail egg.
The Ramos Gin Fizz with smoked gin, elderflower tincture and quail egg.
Toby Cecchini Cosmo
Your preferred hangover recovery regime:
Don’t have dranked too much the night before.
Don’t have dranked too much the night before.
Toby Cecchini Jessica Lustig
The one thing you wish would disappear from drink lists forever:
Strawberries, oddly, because they may be my favorite fruit.
Strawberries, oddly, because they may be my favorite fruit.
Toby Cecchini Cosmopolitan
The last text message you sent:
“Sorry to mar your experience. How was the pasta?”
“Sorry to mar your experience. How was the pasta?”