Dale DeGroff on hospitality: what he knows could fill the Grand Canyon. Or at least a very, very large Grand Canyonish punchbowl. DeGroff, also known as King Cocktail, made his bones at the famous Rainbow Room at 30 Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.

Dale DeGroff on Hospitality: Rule Number 1:

“The most important thing—the thing that needs to happen immediately—is eye contact.” So quoth DeGroff in this informative interview from Liquor.com. “When a guest walks through the door, you give them a wave and a smile, even if the bar is three or four deep. It’s the difference between keeping and losing a customer.” This sort of open, welcoming friendliness had been missing from a lot of top-notch cocktail bars the past few years (not to mention a hell of a lot of other bars), but it’s coming back. A return to humanness. Take a gander at places like Attaboy in the LES and Tooker Alley in Prospect Heights. As good a cocktail as you’ll ever get, made by folks who truly care that you have a pleasant stay. THAT’S the DeGroff way.

Dale DeGroff on Hospitality: Rule Number 2:

“There needs to be a certain level of confidence. It’s important to feel skilled enough in making drinks that you can multi-task. While you’re making drinks, you should also be reading your bar, sussing out what each guest wants.” As a new bartender at the Red Hook Brooklyn neighborhood fave Fort Defiance, I can assure you, this is important. And it takes TIME to learn this. No way around this rule, but practice, practice, and might I add: practice. Mr. DeGroff notes that everyone at the bar needs something different, and a competent bartender (and good host) needs to recognize that. He says, “That person needs help, and so they need a warm expansive greeting, but the man over there just wants to be left alone after you’ve given him his Scotch on the rocks. So many bartenders work by rote, with no ability to dance, to look at the bigger picture.”

You gotta get good at judging while juggling.

And another thing. Arrogance:

DeGroff’s take on that crappy bartender attitude: “We’re getting over this phase and I’m glad. The ‘cocktailian community,’ as I call them, is defined by professionalism and knowledge. It can also be a little arrogant. When I see that type of attitude, I attribute it to a lack of confidence: The bartender is being aggressive and haughty to compensate.” Hear, hear. That attitude, man…. Ick.

Now the question: how do you get your bartenders to offer great hospitality? Says Dale, “You have to hire it. You can’t teach people how to be humans.”