The Goto Bartender's Guide

Kenta Goto, the lauded and oft-imitated bartender behind Bar Goto, reveals his unique creative process for making classic and iconic cocktails consistently, showcasing the techniques and 100 recipes that make up the next wave in the modern craft cocktail movement.

Kenta Goto spent seven years developing his craft at the acclaimed Pegu Club before opening Bar Goto in New York City. Over those years he honed his signature style, bringing precision and intention into every step of the cocktail-building process, from the number of stirs to the type of ice used to the proof of the alcohol. This precision, and his focus on hospitality, has made Bar Goto the new standard bearer in the cocktail world. 

In The Goto Bartender's Guide, Kenta distills down his methodology for building perfect drinks time and time again without any special equipment, whether you're at home or behind one of the world's most famous bars. He accounts for how quickly standard freezer ice melts (versus industrial bar ice) and uses measuring spoons in addition to jiggers to get the proportions just right, ensuring that you'll nail the cocktail every time you make it. 

The Goto Bartender's Guide takes you through classic drinks like the Daiquiri and the Espresso Martini, with the recipes reconfigured to Kenta's proportions and techniques. From there, he dives into the drinks from early in his career like the Sakura Martini and the Kumquat Whiskey Sour and continues on to the Bar Goto classics like the Plum Sazerac and the Umami Mary. Every chapter delves into Kenta's journey as a bartender, outlining his philosophy on creating, serving, inventing, and enjoying drinks. 

From the 100 recipes to the stunning photography throughout, The Goto Bartender's Guide is sure to become a permanent fixture in your bar--whether at home or professional--and is a promise that a perfectly strong and consistent set of drinks will always be at arm's reach.Born and raised in Tokyo and now based in New York, bartender Kenta Goto is the owner of two New York City cocktail bars. After a seven-year tenure at Pegu Club, Kenta opened his first solo bar, Bar Goto, in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2015, followed in 2020 by Bar Goto Niban in Brooklyn. Bar Goto has been recognized with two James Beard Award semifinalist nods for Outstanding Bar Program and Bon Appétit magazine’s Bar of the Year award, among other accolades. Kenta was named U.S. Bartender of the Year at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in 2011.

From the Arctic Circle to the agave fields of Mexico to Scotland’s whisky distilleries, Noah Rothbaum has traveled the globe in search of a good drink. He’s one of the world’s leading authorities on cocktails and spirits as well as a Kentucky Colonel, a James Beard Award winner, and the author of the acclaimed drinks books The Whiskey Bible, The Art of American Whiskey, and The Business of Spirits. Noah is also the associate editor of the Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, which won the American Library Association’s prestigious Dartmouth Medal for the best reference book of 2021.