845: Kenta Goto’s Bartender’s Guide Is a Must-Read for Professionals and Amateurs Alike

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Kenta Goto (1:34)

So my bartending career started after I came to New York.

So Bar Goto is a combination of what I learned from Pegu Club and who I am as a Japanese person. So that's why it is a New York bar with a Japanese soul.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:54)

This is TASTE. I'm your host, Aliza Abarbanel.

Kenta Goto is a bartender and the owner and operator of two acclaimed cocktail bars, Bar Goto on New York's Lower East Side and Bar Goto Niban in Brooklyn. Born and raised in Tokyo, Goto moved to New York and worked at the lauded cocktail bar Pegu Club for seven years before opening his own bar. Now he's sharing his considerable wisdom in a debut cookbook, The Goto Bartender's Guide. Today on the show, we chat about developing his cocktail skills and his signature approach towards drinks and how home bartenders can do the same. Kenta Goto, this is TASTE. Thank you for coming on the podcast.

Kenta Goto (2:37)

Thank you.

Aliza Abarbanel (2:38)

I'm really happy to have you in the studio today. I really think that Bar Goto and Second Location are two of my favorite bars in New York. So to get to talk to the person who made them is really special for me.

Kenta Goto (2:50)

Well, that's great to hear.

Aliza Abarbanel (2:52)

I think of them as almost institutions. I guess it's been 13 years since you opened the first one?

Kenta Goto (2:59)

Definitely. We're going to hit 13 years. Yeah. Right now, our Lower East Side location is in 11 years in business. And the one in Brooklyn, Bar Goto Niban, is going to be, yeah, it is six years now. Right.

Aliza Abarbanel (3:15)

That one opened in 2020

Kenta Goto (3:17)

2020, exactly. One month before pandemic came. But bad timing. It was bad timing.

I'm not sure exactly how we survive, but we did. And so, yeah, but it's been great.

Aliza Abarbanel (3:32)

So I'm excited to talk to you about The Bars and about your really beautiful new book, The Goto Bartender's Guide. But first, I want to ask you if you can tell me about the last memorable meal you had.

Kenta Goto (3:44)

Oh, yeah.

That would be the steak that my wife and I cooked together. So friend of mine, food chef, yeah, kind enough to give us some nice cut. And also, fresh wasabi root. Then we have this aged soy sauce that we love. You just need a little bit, but yeah, so that's what we had last week, and that was fantastic.

Aliza Abarbanel (4:13)

Wow. I've heard that it's hard to find actual wasabi in New York. Do you feel like that's true?

Kenta Goto (4:19)

I mean, you can buy it at the Japanese grocery stores, but the one that I go to in my neighborhood, the price tag is like $38, almost $40, so I never buy it. So it's nice to have somebody just give it to me.

Aliza Abarbanel (4:37)

Yeah. It's good to have friends that are chefs. Something I learned about you while reading this book is that you grew up in your mom's restaurant in Tokyo, and I'm curious how that shaped you and the way that you work in food.