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What do you look for when you’re hiring somebody to work behind one of your bars?

First and foremost, when they walk in the door to interview with me, it’s, “Do they have that thing where you like them before they even open their mouth?” The service industry is entertainment, and you want people that are really likeable. Some people just have it. Either you have it or you don’t, and sometimes it’s not something you can teach. I look for that, as well as passion, because again, you can’t teach somebody how to have passion about something. If they’re passionate about cocktails, if they’re passionate about the food service world, and they’re passionate about fresh ingredients and being creative – and I’ll take somebody with passion over training any day because I can teach people, but you can’t teach somebody how to be passionate.

Do you feel like there are any misconceptions about Hawaiian cocktails?

There are misconceptions in Hawaii about Hawaiian cocktails. There’s the most butchered mai tais I’ve ever tasted in my life. The mai tai in Hawaii, in most places, is pineapple juice and guava and all this crazy stuff, but nobody knows what a real Trader Vic mai tai was about, except the Halekulani, where they actually make a classic mai tai: fresh lime juice, two different types of rum, orgeat. There’s that. It’s kind of unfortunate that so many hotels are using pre-bottled mixers and just stuff that’s artificial. I’d love to see a lot of the hotels move more towards what we were just talking about today, farm to glass, fresh ingredients and actually utilizing what they have on this island in the drinks, in the same way they do the food.

Can you imagine opening a bar here at some point?

Doing business in Hawaii is really difficult. I grew up here, my dad was an entrepreneur in one-hour photo labs and I sort of watched the trials and tribulations of doing business on Oahu. If it were doing it for a hotel where they were dealing with all of the bureaucracy, perhaps, where I could come in, do my thing, put my name on it, then I would definitely contemplate it, but I don’t know if I would go and rent a space.

It sounds like you’re a fan of drinking here. Are there any other bars that you enjoy going to, or any particular bartenders that deserve attention?

I know Town has some really good cocktails, and I can’t remember the name of the bartender there. He’s passionate and really into it and makes great drinks. Nobu has some nice cocktails and they get the whole fresh ingredient ideas. I do a lot of drinking by the pool in my free time.

What are you drinking by the pool?

Here, they have a frozen lemonade that they do. I do gin frozen lemonade or mai tais or Champagne. That’s usually what I’m drinking by the pool.

If you could only drink one more cocktail, what would be in the glass?

It would probably be an Old Fashioned, a really well made Old Fashioned.

What do you look for in an Old Fashioned?

A classic Old Fashioned, whiskey, a little bit of sugar, two different types of bitters, and a lemon or orange twist. Really simple Old World style.

Who would you let make it?

Somebody who really cares about drinks and knows how to make it. The Old Fashioned is the mark of a bartender. It’s almost like your signature, so I guess if I was on my deathbed and I was having one more cocktail and that was the last one I could possibly have, I would want it to be somebody who I care about who is also passionate about drinks and could really make a great Old Fashioned.