Dale DeGroff (born September 21, 1948), also known as "the King of Cocktails" or "King Cocktail", is an American bartender and author. The ''New York Times'' in 2015 called DeGroff "one of the world's foremost cocktail experts", and wrote that his book ''The Craft of the Cocktail'' is considered an essential bartending reference.
From 1987 to 1999 DeGroff rose to prominence as the original chief bartender in the
Rainbow Room
The Rainbow Room is a private event space on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Run by Tishman Speyer, it is among the highest venues in New York City. The Rainbow Room was design ...
at
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...
in New York City, where his then-unusual emphasis on classic cocktail recipes and high-quality ingredients led to substantial acclaim and emulation by many other bars in New York City and beyond, and helped influence the creation of the
craft cocktail movement.
He is the founding president of
the Museum of the American Cocktail
The Museum of the American Cocktail, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to education in mixology and preserving the rich history of the cocktail as developed in the United States. Among its events are tastings ...
in New Orleans, founded in 2005. He is also a partner and consultant in the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) group.
The
James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...
awarded DeGroff the 2009 Wine & Spirits Professional Award, and in 2015 inducted him into the Who's Who in Food & Beverage in America. He received the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from Nightclub & Bar Magazine, the 2008
Tales of the Cocktail
Tales of the Cocktails (sometimes shortened to Tales or TotC) is an annual trade conference, festival, and gathering of cocktail and Distilled beverage, spirits industry professionals in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference was founded in 2003 b ...
Lifetime Achievement Award, and along with his BAR partners,
the 2007 Cheers Beverage Industry Innovator of the Year.
He is the author of two best-selling cocktail books: ''The Essential Cocktail'', winner of the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail Spirit Award for Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book, and ''The Craft of the Cocktail'', winner of the 2003
IACP Julia Child Award in the First Book category.
Books
*2002: ''The Craft of the Cocktail: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Master Bartender, with 500 Recipes''. Clarkson Potter.
*2009: The Essential Cocktail (Random House)
See also
*
List of bartenders
This is a list of notable bartenders. A bartender (also known as a barkeep or a mixologist) is a person who serves alcoholic beverages and other drinks behind a bar, typically in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment.
Bartenders
A
* To ...
References
External links
Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Degroff, Dale
1948 births
American bartenders
Living people
Writers from New York City