Robert Simonson

The Path

Since 2000, Robert Simonson has held the cocktails, spirits, and bars beat at The New York Times, a position that keeps him close to New York’s drinking culture and its shifts in taste, practice, and language. The work has become a base for writing that moves between daily coverage and longer-form books, with each format drawing on the same set of questions: what people drink, how those drinks are made, and what the surrounding culture leaves in the glass. The Mix with Robert Simonson carries that line of inquiry into another format without changing its subject.

The Work Today

The current scope is still cocktails, spirits, bars, and bartenders, but the work now spans newspaper reporting, books, and The Mix with Robert Simonson. Each outlet serves the same purpose: to give context to a drink and to the people who make and serve it. Simonson pays attention to how cocktails travel through time and across neighborhoods, and to the bartender’s role in preserving, adjusting, or renewing that tradition. His own preference is plain: “I prefer gin — if people want vodka, fine.”

Signature

Robert's signature dishes include The Old-Fashioned, A Proper Drink, 3-Ingredient Cocktails, The Martini Cocktail, and Mezcal and Tequila Cocktails. Taken together, they show a writer working across drink history and practical form: from canonical cocktails to compact, usable collections, with the same focus on how drinks are named, ordered, and understood.

In Their Words “It is a reflection of my long career as a journalist and author.” “I prefer gin — if people want vodka, fine.”

Acclaim

Robert's honors include IACP Award and Spirited Award for Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer.