Tony Conigliaro

Type

Booze hounds

Where do you live?

Islington, London

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Corinthia - A lovely hotel bar with great drinks and really attentive staff The Connaught Bar – Ago is a wonderful guy, and all of the drinks are creative and balanced. Filthy MacNasty’s – It’s my local pub. What can I say? I’m a Londoner, we love our locals.

3 favourite international bars and why

The Varnish – I love the staff, and they do really great classic cocktails. They really opened things up in Los Angeles in a way that hadn’t been done before. Booker and Dax – Dave Arnold is an evil genius and Booker and Dax is his brainchild. Need I say more? Dry Martini – It’s like stepping back in time when you enter into this bar in Barcelona. The martinis are excellent and if you are lucky enough to get served the radishes with butter you will be in heaven.

Introduce us to a great bartender

Guillome, one of my bartenders at 69 Colebrooke is amazing. Fast, classy, and with an amazing French accent. It’s a killer combination.

Best part of your job?

I get to be creative every day.

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Bar Le Coq, our new bar opening in Paris this October.

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Maybe its just residual Olympic fever, but I seem to remember wanting to be a swimmer.

Who would play you in a movie?

Johnny Depp, wait- does everyone say that?

If you weren't a bartender what would you like to be?

Perfumer.

If you could make a drink for one person dead or alive who would it be

Rambeau, the poet. But I would trade him a poem for a drink. I would also be interested to see if a few cocktails could make him a little less melancholy.

Top chefs have their guilty pleasure food, what's your guilty pleasure drink

Piña Colada

Drink trend that you're excited about

Carbonating cocktails. Please refer to above mentioned evil genius Dave Arnold.

It's the end of the world in 24 hours what would you do?

Wow, I don’t know. Cry? Just get on with it? I would certainly have a few drinks.

Favourite place in the world?

Sicily

Desert island bottle?

Dom Perignon 1996, and lots of it.

If you were going to make a Barchick cocktail what would you call it and what would be in it?

A Twinkle: 25 ml Wyborowa Vodka, 15ml Elderflower liqueur, Top with 75ml of Perrier Jouet Champagne