Cocktails with “The Modern Mixologist”, Tony Abou-Ganim – Thursday, August 26, 2010

Tony Abou-Ganim, the legendary “Modern Mixologist,” is a global leader in the craft cocktail renaissance. Over the past 20 years he has worked with food and hospitality
icons including Mario Batali, Steve Wynn, and Harry Denton, and also appeared on Iron Chef America. In his new book “The Modern Mixologist”, he’s compiled a guide to home mixology, featuring his 60 best drink recipes—both signature creations and his unique variations on the classics. We’ll talk to Tony about his career, his cocktails and the basics of mixology. We’ll also try a few of his signature cocktails live on the air, discuss how to pair them with different foods, as well as what he thinks are some of the best new trends and ideas on the cocktail scene today. Whether you’re a mixology aficionado or merely curious about the mixed-drink phenomenon, you don’t want to miss this conversation with “The Modern Mixologist”!

Tony Abou-Ganim grew up in the bar business, learning the craft from his cousin Helen David at the Brass Rail Bar in Port Huron, Michigan. After graduating from college, Tony learned an appreciation for a well made cocktail using only the freshest ingredients at Jack Slick’s Balboa Café and Harry Denton’s in San Francisco, at Po with Mario Batali in NYC, and then back in San Francisco at “Harry Denton’s Starlight Room”, atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. He was later hand-picked by Steve Wynn to create the cocktail program at the Bellagio Resort. Today, Tony operates his own beverage consulting firm in Las Vegas, specializing in bar staff training, product education and cocktail development. As the National Ambassador of the US Bartenders Guild, and Associate Member of the Museum of the American Cocktail, Tony continues to educate about the history and lore of cocktails as well as lead the bar industry into continually improving the art of the cocktail.