The Anderson Tapes

The Incredible Story Behind "The Incredible Story of The Encyclopedia of Cocktails."

Last June, shortly after seeing Wes Anderson’s new film, “Asteroid City,” Mary Kate and I were brainstorming about new and novel ways to publicize my upcoming new book The Encyclopedia of Cocktails.

For Modern Classic Cocktails, which was published last autumn, we had pulled out all the usual stops, lining up an extensive array of readings, signings, lectures and dinners at bars, restaurants and bookstores in cities across the United States. We planned to do more of the same for the new book. But we wanted to add a new wrinkle, something unexpected, something designed for social media that went beyond posts, stories, reels and whatnot. What if we borrowed a page from the Wes Anderson playbook?

Anderson’s films, and especially the previews to his films, have always had a strong narrative aspect, often telling stories within stories within stories. And very often, writers were among the central characters in his tales (think Owen Wilson’s Eli Cash and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Margot Tenenbaum in “The Royal Tenenbaums”; the unnamed author played by both Tom Wilkinson and Jude Law in “The Grand Hotel Budapest”; Cate Blanchett as reporter Jane Winslett-Richardson in “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou”; not to mention nearly all the characters in “The French Dispatch”). We hatched the idea of creating a semi-fictional story of the creation of The Encyclopedia of Cocktails by way of a short, promotional film. It seemed a natural fit. After all, the book already sounded like a something a Wes Anderson character might write, the title being both grand and faintly humorous.

I could, of course, never create such a film myself, aside from perhaps writing the script. I had not the skills. But perhaps a newly graduated film studies major could.

Luckily, I was related to one such.

A shot from the film taken at Clover Club in Brooklyn.

My son, Asher, graduated from film department at SUNY Binghamton in May. He was now back in Brooklyn looking for work and had ample time on his hands. As much a fan of Anderson as I, he agreed to take on the project. Asher already owned a good camera. I fronted the money for an industry-level tripod, some lighting equipment and a makeshift dolly for tracking shots.

The Encyclopedia contains more than 300 entries, not just about cocktails, but also bars, bartenders and mixology techniques and equipment. That all had to be in the film somehow. For the bars and bartenders, I rung up some figures in the New York cocktail world that I had known for years, including Toby Cecchini (Long Island Bar), Julie Reiner (Clover Club) and Sother Teague (Amor y Amargo), and asked if they’d be willing to play actor for a day. All were incredibly patient and generous with their time. (My son, I discovered, is a perfectionist and takes his time getting a shot just right!)

A shot from the film.

We filmed roughly twenty different cocktails for the movie, each with a different, appropriately fussy, Andersonian backdrop. For instance, the 50-50 Martini had a $50 bill laying next to it. The White Russian was framed by an old Soviet Ushanka fur hat that belonged to Mary Kate’s late father. The Old Cuban was joined in its shot by Cuban rum and cigars I had brought back from trips abroad.

Many fried eggs later….

The Breakfast Martini had perhaps the most elaborate setup. It sat on a table with a lace tablecloth, next to silverware and a plate of bacon and fried eggs, sunny side up. It took me four turns at the stove to get those eggs perfectly camera ready, and several takes to turn the plate just right in the shot. Many breakfasts were sacrificed.

Richard Santana in his cameo as a book lover.

Most of the cocktail shots were done in our apartment, which is not large. Dreaming up original mise-en-scènes for each drink, so that each looked different from one another, took some imagination and creativity. Thankfully, we did not lack for props. Our collection of old cocktail glassware runs in into the hundreds. I have also accumulated dozens of quirky examples of vintage bar equipment, books and gizmos over the years. Many of these made their way into the film.

Additionally, Mary Kate’s collection of dishware, objects d’arts, furniture and knickknacks is equally impressive, and added to the atmosphere of many a frame. More family involvement came in the person of Richard Santana, Mary Kate’s son, who makes an appearance wearing his mother’s beret. Asher has his own Hitchcockian cameo as well.

Me playing “Robert Simonson.” Note the pipe in the bottle left corner.

The script came together over the weeks through a back-and-forth exchange between Asher and me. Asher saw my character—and I do play a character, a fictional version of myself—as smoking a pipe. So I bought two old pipes on eBay, both of them a brand called Mastercraft that Bing Crosby favored and endorsed.

All told, the filming took about two months, and the editing another couple weeks. Then came adding graphics, an important aspect of any Anderson film. For this, Asher consulted with my cousin Mark Simonson, who is a noted designer and creator of fonts. Then there were the credits and something Asher kept referring to as “color correction,” which I have never fully understood.

The timing of our little project proved fortuitous. Just as “Asteroid City” was fading into the background of people’s collective memory, the filmmaker dropped four new short films on Neflix in late September, all inspired by short stories by Roald Dahl. Dahl was played in the films by Ralph Fiennes. Another writer character! Thanks, Wes.

The title of our mock preview for the book was taken from the longest of Anderson’s Dahl films, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.”

At the end of the day, it was one of the most quixotic and fun enterprises I’ve ever embarked upon in my career, all the more wonderful for being a collaboration with my family, and spotlighting my son’s considerable talents. I hope you enjoy it. And I hope you enjoy the book, too.

(By the way, Asher would like you to know that, if you like what you see, he can do something similar for you and your next project. His rates are reasonable.)

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Odds and Ends…

This coming week will bring a trio of book tour events on the west coast. First up is an appearance at Book Larder in Seattle at 6:30 on Wednesday, Oct. 18. I will sign books after a conversation with Imbibe editor and Seattle resident Paul Clarke. On Saturday, Oct. 21, I will be speaking and signing books at Omnivore Books in San Francisco. Drinks will be served, probably by Mary Kate! That same day, a cocktail dinner will be held at Bar Agricole, one of the best cocktail bars in the city. Price of admission gets you several drinks, a three-course meal and a signed copy of the book… Chuck Cerankosky, the Rochester-based restaurateur and cocktailian, has opened his seventh property in that New York State city, Martine. It occupies the space that was formerly the home of Cheshire, one of the first craft cocktail bars in Rochester… Cameron Winkelman, who manned the bar program at Danny Meyer’s sky-high restaurant Manhatta during the first year of its second life (it closed for two years after Covid hit), has put in his last shift there. Following a battery of guest bartending stints in Asia and Australia, Winkleman plans to get to work on opening his own new bar in Seattle… The New York Times published an obituary of the late Seattle bartender Murray Stenson… Forthave Spirits, the Brooklyn producer of bitters and amari, has just put out Three, a new bittersweet digestif in the French tradition. It is the third in its series of single batch botanical spirits… Saint Julivert, the fish-focused Brooklyn restaurant, has brought back its fish and chips with black garlic tartar sauce, rose chile vinegar and thin French fries for a limited time… Paradise Lost, the new tropical bar with an occult aesthetic, officially opened for business last Friday in the East Village… Bumbo’s, the Detroit cocktail bar with a dive bar aesthetic, will be serving a “Twin Peaks”-themed menu all of October. Drinks include Invitation to Love and Fire Walk With Me… I wrote an article about Brooklyn’s own Martini Whisperer, bartender Phil Ward, for New York magazine… Chinato, a new bar opened by an alum of Double Chicken Please, opened for business last weekend on the Lower East Side. It’s main feature is a bartending island in the center of the space… This year, Apple TV will offer free access to the perennial holiday favorite, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” on Oct. 21 and 22.

The entrance to Paradise Lost.