Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life

(Paperback)

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This is the story of a day at Passerby, Toby Cecchini's bar. It is a rich study of human nature, of the sometimes annoying, sometimes outlandish behaviour of the human animal under the influence of alcohol, lust and the sheer desire to bust loose and party. It's not always a pretty picture, but as his day progresses from the almost pastoral quiet of opening through the gathering rush of after-work customers to the crazed crush of night-time fun-seekers, Cecchini muses over his life in the trade. He tells us about dealing with regulars, sex and the bartender, cocktail connoisseurs, the sheer man-killing pace of keeping those drinks coming at flood tide, and the manifold varieties of weirdness and bad behaviour that every bartender has to learn how to manage. Cecchini is also the man who reinvented the Cosmopolitan, and he is not shy of showing his dismay at the way the drink went on to be bastardised by many thousands of bartenders and become a highly dubious indicator of urban sophistication. The book is a behind-the-scenes look at the glorious, frenzied atmosphere of that great establishment, the bar.

Author Bio

Toby Cecchini is part owner of the bar/gallery Passerby, located in New York's far-west Chelsea neighbourhood. Cosmopolitan began as a series of acclaimed diaries in the online publication Slate. Cecchini has also written for the New York Times Magazine and The Times' Style section. He lives in New York City.