Cosmopolitan: A Bartender’s Life

Cosmopolitan is a memoir of the bartending life structured as a day in the life of Passerby, the bar owned and run by Toby Cecchini. It is, as well, a rich study of human nature--of the outlandish behavior of the human animal under the influence of alcohol, of lust, and of the sheer desire to bust loose and party. As the typical day progresses, Cecchini muses over a life spent in the service industry and the fascinating particulars of his chosen profession. He is by turns witty, acute, mordant, and lyrical in dealing with the realities of his profession, shedding plenty of light on the hidden corners of what people do when they go out at night.

TOBY CECCHINI is part owner of the bar Passerby, located in New York’s far-west Chelsea neighborhood. He began his bartending career in the mid-eighties at New York’s fabled bar and restaurant Odeon, where he began the Cosmopolitan cocktail revival. Cecchini has also written for the New York Times Magazine and GQ. He lives in New York City.