Why This Episode Matters

Kenta Goto explains why the first sip of a cocktail is like a job interview: you get one chance to make the right impression, so every detail from ice and dilution to the order of operations matters.
Noah Rothbaum makes the case that cocktail recipes have changed far less than cocktail culture itself, and that The Goto Bartender’s Guide fills in the technical information most recipes leave out.
The conversation traces Kenta’s path from Tokyo to New York, his formative years at Pegu Club with Audrey Saunders, and the philosophy of precision and hospitality that eventually became Bar Goto.

Banter

Fall has arrived, which means Autumn Leaves cocktails, Spooky Bar and a Robert Simonson book launch at Stage Left. Mark is also counting down to Italy; Francis is counting down to Mark being in Italy.

The Conversation

Kenta Goto and Noah Rothbaum join The Guys on the release day of The Goto Bartender’s Guide. The collaboration grew out of years of friendship that began at Pegu Club and later included traveling together to teach seminars on omotenashi, or Japanese hospitality. Noah says what intrigued him was Kenta’s habit of questioning assumptions bartenders have accepted for generations: not just inventing new drinks, but reconsidering how cocktails are actually made.

Kenta traces his unlikely route into bartending from moving from Japan to New York, studying fashion, drifting through jobs and finally recognizing how much he had loved helping in his mother’s restaurant. A visit to Pegu Club changed his trajectory, and an anonymous Craigslist ad eventually led to an interview with Audrey Saunders. Her second interview was a surprise visit to watch him work, followed by an on-the-spot request for a gin sour along with a question he couldn’t answer: which gin did he use, and why?

From there, the discussion gets deeply practical. Kenta and Noah explain why shaker size, ice type, proof, dilution, stirring time and even the order ingredients enter a mixing glass can change a drink. The book translates those instincts into usable numbers, including different shake and stir counts for different ice and proof levels, while still treating them as guidelines rather than absolutes. They also explain why specifying a spirit brand matters, why teaspoons can sometimes be more useful than jiggers, and how they chose the book’s 100 recipes from classics to Kenta’s own greatest hits.

Guest Bios

Kenta Goto is the Tokyo-born bartender and owner of Bar Goto in Manhattan and Bar Goto Niban in Brooklyn. After seven years at the influential Pegu Club, he opened Bar Goto in 2015. He has been named U.S. Bartender of the Year at Tales of the Cocktail and is known for combining exacting cocktail technique with Japanese hospitality.

Noah Rothbaum is a James Beard Award-winning drinks writer, author of The Whiskey Bible: The Art of American Whiskey, and an editor of The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. He and Goto are co-authors of The Goto Bartender’s Guide.

Timestamps

00:00 — Fall cocktails, Spooky Bar and Mark’s Italy escape
06:30 — Kenta Goto & Noah Rothbaum: Why another cocktail book?
11:30 — Kenta’s path from Tokyo to New York bartending
15:30 — Pegu Club, Audrey Saunders and the interview that changed Kenta’s career
20:00 — Noah on Kenta’s approach and what cocktail recipes have been missing
25:00 — Precision in practice: ice, dilution, shake counts and consistency
31:30 — Noah on jiggers, teaspoons and making precision accessible at home
34:00 — Proof, brand specificity and why substitutions change a drink
38:30 — Noah & Kenta on choosing the book’s 100 cocktails

Info

The Goto Bartender’s Guide
by Kenta Goto and Noah Rothbaum

Oct 23, Friday - Winemaker Dinner w/ Neri Capponi of Villa Calcinaia Winery

Oct 26-31 - Spooky Bar

Oct 27, Tuesday - Robert Simonson book signing cocktail party

More info - https://www.stageleft.com/events/

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Kenta Goto & Noah Rothbaum | The Goto Bartender’s Guide & the Art of Precision

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Kenta Goto & Noah Rothbaum | The Goto Bartender’s Guide & the Art of Precision