Who | Mike Buono
Where | Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada
Current Bar | Buono Osteria
Past Bar(s) | Cascade Room (Vancouver)
Favourite Spirit | Bourbon
Favourite Juice | POG a Hawaiian classic (passion, orange, guava) I spent a lot of my youth years on the islands
Favourite Classic Cocktail | Boulevardier
Favourite Part of the Job | Reimagining classics in a new way. Providing customers with that satisfying drink that puts them in their happy place.
Favourite After Work Drink | Mezcal Negroni
Favourite at Home Drink | Good wine
Favourite bar in the world | Jigger and Post (Reggio Emilia, Italy), Keefer Bar (Vancouver), Raven Room (Whistler, BC)
Best known for | Amaro based cocktails
Favourite “at work” memory | Sitting at my mentors bar tasting classic cocktails, and the world of amaro for the first time.
What do you collect? Amaro
Favourite thing about your city? Gibsons is a small community-driven town that is built around the beauty of nature. It is an evolving place that has welcomed the opening of my restaurant and embraced amaro based cocktails.
What was the last photo that you took? Instagram promotional shot of my barrel aged cocktail flight.
Where is one place that you have never been but would like to travel to? I have been fortunate to travel to many places but I have always had a drive to visit South East Asia and Japan.
Any claims to fame? My claim is that I am a classically French trained Chef. I have been working and cooking in fine dinning restaurant for over a decade. I had never touched a shaker can in my life until I began working as executive chef of a cocktail bar in Vancouver, The Cascade Room. From there my world exploded and my thirst for more knowledge in the beverage side of my industry began. I was fortunate to learn from some amazing bartender about the foundations of cocktails and this began my love for mixing spirits. My knowledge and understanding of blending and balancing food made mixing cocktails and balancing flavours feel very natural to me. When it came time to open my own restaurant in my small town of Gibsons I was able to showcase my knowledge and love for both food and drink.
Prosecco or Cava? Prosecco (because I’m Italian)
Angostura or Peychaud’s? Angostura
Singapore or San Francisco? San Francisco
Grapefruit or Pineapple? Grapefruit
Are you available for freelance gigs? At the moment I run and own a busy restaurant so probably not.
Find them: Instagram
