Regan, Gary (1951–2019), was an author, self-described “bartender emeritus,” and the namesake creator of Regans’ Orange Bitters no. 6. From around 2010 Regan began publishing under the moniker “gaz regan” and adopted what became a signature streak of eyeliner under his right eye.
Born to pub owners in the county of Lancashire in western England, Regan began tending bar at the age of fourteen at his parents’ pub, the Prince Rupert, and dropped out of school shortly thereafter.
In the early 1970s, Regan moved to New York City, where he got a job at Drake’s Drum, a popular Upper East Side Irish bar, and continued to work various service-industry jobs through the 1980s. He quit in the early 1990s to pursue writing, landing a drinks column for newly launched glossy Food Arts magazine; his big break came when he was pegged to write The Bartender’s Bible (HarperTorch, 1993), which included 1,001 cocktail recipes and prescriptive bartending advice. He went on to write more than a dozen books, including five volumes of Gaz Regan’s 101 Best New Cocktails and The Negroni (Ten Speed, 2015). His best-known book is the encyclopedic 2003 tome The Joy of Mixology (Clarkson Potter), which helped to jumpstart the cocktail renaissance and, with its attention to the social aspects of bartending, provided something of a counterweight to many of the more technically focused bartending books published in the 2000s; it received a revised edition in 2018.
Throughout his career, Regan underscored that a successful bar relies primarily on one variable: the happiness of its patrons. He spread that message through his e-newsletter Potent Quotables and bartending masterclasses.
Ford, Simon. “Gary ‘Gaz’ Regan Knows More about the Culture of Drink Than Basically Anybody.” Food Republic, May 30, 2013. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/05/30/gary-gaz-regan-knows-more-about-the-culture-of-drink-than-basically-anybody/ (accessed March 9, 2021).
Gaz Regan website. http://www.gazregan.com (accessed September 5, 2017).
Maier, Kathryn. “A Conversation with One of the Most Influential Bartenders of Our Time.” Robb Report, May 26, 2016. http://robbreport.com/food-drink/spirits/conversation-one-most-influential-bartenders-our-time-qa-231875/ (accessed March 9, 2021).
Regan, Gary. Gaz Regan’s Annual Manual for Bartenders, 2011. London: Mixellany, 2011.
Ventiera, Sara. “Let Gary ‘Gaz’ Regan Give You a Negroni Lesson.” Village Voice, May 14, 2015. https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/05/14/let-gary-gaz-regan-give-you-a-negroni-lesson/ (accessed March 9, 2021).
By: Lauren Viera
Gary Regan goes full bartender at the Slow Food Tribute to Jerry Thomas, held in the Oak Room (formerly the Men’s Bar) at the Plaza Hotel, New York, March, 2003. Source: Photograph by Zak Pelaccio.