Robert Ferrara
Swine Southern Table & Bar
Coral Gables, Florida

How’d you get into bartending? I was a senior in high school, believe it or not. I was at that age where your parents won’t buy you Air Jordan’s anymore. My mother was in the restaurant business, my father was a produce manager, so I was around food and restaurants my whole life. I landed at a restaurant as a waiter, but there was a guy behind the bar who was always fucking up a lot. He would miss shifts, so they’d put me behind the bar, and eventually they fired him and gave me his shift. It was a mom-and-pop bar and grill, and I knew nothing about making drinks. I ended up bartending there for six or seven years.

You’re drinking a shot. What is it? Mescal. I’ve actually been to Oaxaca, so I’ve seen the way mescal is made. It’s a more hands-on shot, there are routines associated with it, like what you say when you drink it and what you prepare to go along with it. There’s so much involved, which makes for a great experience, but it’s also just a really delicious, smokier kind of shot.

If you could share a drink with anyone, who would it be and why? Michael Jordan. I grew up watching Michael Jordan, I think he’s the greatest athlete of all-time, and to this day I still collect Air Jordan’s — I’m actually wearing a pair of Air Jordan 3′s as we speak. 

What would you guys drink? Would you make him something? We’d have old-fashioneds. I make a really solid one, and I feel like that’s his kind of drink.

Someone asks for you to surprise them — what are you making? I usually ask them what spirits they hate, and then I tend to make a drink with that spirit. Like for instance, I had this girl come in the other day and say like, “Ahhh, make me whatever.” So I go, “Cool. What do you like?” “Oh, we only drink vodka.” “Do you like gin?” “I hate gin.” “Do you drink raspberries? Do you drink lemon? Okay, perfect.” I made her a Clover Club: Gin, raspberries, lemon juice, and egg white. She loved it. 

What’s a cocktail every man should know how to make? A manhattan. An old-fashioned. A martini. And a negroni. Those are the staples. If you can make those, you’re fine.   

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve witnessed a customer do at your bar? Besides having sex? I don’t know if I can top that. I’ve had people basically have foreplay at my bar before, and that can be very awkward.

Best hangover cure? A Michelada. It’s like a Bloody Mary, but with beer. Basically it’s a can of Tecate with some lime juice, hot sauce, and salt. That’s pretty much it. Definitely a favorite of bartenders.

Why do people go to a bar? There are a hundred different answers. To meet people. To be alone. Sometimes you go to a bar to get a sense of a place. Bartenders know everything that is going on. I’m in New York City right now, and I went to a hotel bar, and I don’t know anything that’s going on, but it’s not long until he’s pointing me to this restaurant or to this thing that’s happening later.

At Swine, you guys are big on the pig. Any recommendations? Our bar focuses on rye whiskey and rum, so we’re really good at making the great traditional drinks. When it comes to food, my favorite dish is the 14-hour smoked brisket. The ideal combo, I think, is to get a special drink we make called the Swine Old-Fashioned — it’s an old-fashioned but we leave the rye out overnight and fat wash it in bacon, and for the shooter we use maple syrup, and then we make our own bitters in house that we call ‘swine’ bitters — and then the brisket. That will make for a fine meal. 

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