How long have you been employed at the Soho House Group?

I applied to be a bartender when they were opening West Hollywood, so I’ve been working here since February 2010. I was then promoted to Captain in October and became bar manager in January 2011.

What trends are you seeing in bars at the moment?

We’re part of the classic, well-crafted cocktail trend that has been tramping around New York for a little while but is still fairly fresh in Los Angeles. We’re definitely not the only ones and I wouldn’t say we were at the forefront but we’re certainly in the mix.

What is your favourite ingredient/spirit to work with?

If you’re going to make me pick I suppose I would have to say that rum is my favourite liquor to use. Its flavour has both sides for a cocktail: it has as much liquor as you’d want in a taste and as much sweet as you’d want in a taste, which makes it the most useful. I don’t think it overpowers nor does it get lost very easily. As for a non-alcoholic ingredient, I wouldn’t want to say that I had a favourite kind. I’m always interested in what someone else thinks they can throw into a cocktail. I’ve tried to make garlic work so many times but I still can’t. I’m determined before my life is over to make it work somehow!

What is your most memorable drink/place to drink?

I think it’s fair to say that it was the first Old Fashioned I had during my training for Soho House. I’ve been in the service industry for over 14 years and I’ve learned 90% of what I know about bartending and technique from working behind the bar here.

What do you look for in your bartenders?

The first word that comes to mind is confidence. After that you want to make sure the confidence has something to back it up and it’s not just ego. But confidence needs to be there because without it you could easily fall down in this job.

What do you like doing outside of work?

I love photography and I’m an avid reader.

What is your preferred cocktail/drink to make?

To be honest, I drink things neat now. I love rye whiskey – it’s been my drink of choice for the last couple of years – and I drink that neat. Nobody was really using it, it was a lost liquor, but now this whole cocktail thing is becoming prevalent in Los Angeles, it’s appeared again. I’d never really had it but I would say it’s definitely my favourite type of whiskey now.

Where else have you worked?

I worked at Beauty Bar here in Hollywood as a bartender and as a dining manager at Club Med in Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean. And I also worked in New York City at an outdoor restaurant called Luna Park.

What are the classic mistakes that bad bars make?

In my opinion: music. Music is a really simple mistake and it’s a slippery slope! It’s basically wedding music. Nobody wants to hear it anymore and yet everywhere plays it. I have to admit that we do it a bit at Soho House, and I’ve said my piece about that! But Soho House has the advantage in that there is no one aspect that will turn people off because the overall package is so spectacular. If they hear a bad song or have a bad drink, there’s so much more to balance it out, whereas other places only have one or two features or gimmicks. We don’t have that: it’s our whole box with a bow that works for us.

What’s the secret to getting served quickly at the bar?

I don’t know if you’ll like my answer but… I think patience is the key to getting served quickly at the bar.