SB Meets… Joe McCanta, Grey Goose

Joe McCanta found his first taste of hospitality while working as a sommelier to support his career as a jazz musician – today he can be found working as global brand ambassador for Grey Goose.

Grey Goose global brand ambassador Joe McCanta started his hospitality careers as a sommelier

Raised in southern California, before moving to Boston, McCanta gained his first hospitality training while working with sommelier Joshua Wesson. He recalls: “Joshua was quite a forward thinking sommelier for the time, he would order wines by taste rather than region or grape variety, as that could get confusing for some consumers.”

He then moved to work at an organic and biodynamic wine bar in New York’s East Village, called Counter. After finding out that the venue also had a liquor license, McCanta decided it was time he learned how to make cocktails.

“At the time, I didn’t know anything about cocktails so I would visit PDT [Jim Meehan’s bar in New York] and I would watch them make their drinks.”

His work in the on-trade has seen McCanta visit a host of bars all around the world. “I worked in Istanbul and I did not know what to expect there,” he says. “The bartenders in Istanbul are built thinking about local ingredients, their knowledge of taste comes as second nature to them.”

After travelling the world working as a bartender, McCanta found himself in London. It was here that he caught the eye of premium French vodka brand Grey Goose with his Greenhouse Bar concept – which was a working bar with living plants that could be used to create fresh cocktails.

McCanta, who was previously nominated for the Best International Brand Ambassador award at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, is now focused on promoting vodka as a spirit “made with mixing in mind”.

“Vodka is a category where you have so many occasions to play to,” he says. “I feel like in vodka we have lots to work with, and an expression like Grey Goose La Vanille was made for cocktails like the Espresso Martini.”

Once spirit brands and bartenders have become fully committed to creating new and innovative cocktails, McCanta believes the next step is for venues to focus on food and cocktail pairings.

“It’s all about being playful and finding ways to bring cocktails into food menus and food into the cocktail menu,” he claims. “I think food and drink have been mirroring each other for some time and now there are bartenders like Rich Woods who are doing some amazing combinations.”

His work with Grey Goose has seen McCanta work alongside a number of famed chefs, including Alain Ducasse, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay. The ambassador is now hoping he can use what he has learned from them and others to help the next generation of bartenders push the boundaries of mixology.