Kevin Diedrich

Part 2: There’s a Special Art to Serving Strangers Without Expecting Anything in Return

Pacific Cocktail Haven (P.C.H.) has won accolades for being one of “The World’s 50 Best Bars.” It was also the “Best American Cocktail Bar” at Tales of the Cocktail^®, where owner bartender Kevin Diedrich has also been recognized as “Best American Bartender.” The bar’s popularity stems from its highly creative cocktails. We asked Diedrich about the pandemic’s impact on the bar business and its future.

⇒ Read Part 1: “Experimenting with Distinctly Flavored Shochu Makes Mixology Very Fun”

Text: Akira Suzuki / Photography: Koichi Mitsui / Composition: Contentsbrain /
 English translation:LIBER
Interview Location: Kenji and Loa Bar, both located on the first floor of the International House Hotel at 221 Camp Street,
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130, U.S.A.

After Renovating from Midnight to Dawn, I Opened for the Night

So in 2017, you opened Pacific Cocktail Haven (P.C.H.) in San Francisco.

Actually, the first bar I opened in 2017 burned down in a fire in 2021 [and I opened the current one in 2022], but before that first one was destroyed, I’d bought the building in December 2015. It was a very old building in bad condition, so when I first bought it, I wasn’t sure what to do with the interior. In the meantime, I opened the bar as a temporary business.

It was in a really bad state, so I opened the bar from 5 p.m. to midnight. After closing, I would stay until seven or eight in the morning to strip the walls and renovate on my own, then tidy up the bar, do some prep work, and open up again at five. I lived like that for about six months. The renovations took about a year to finish, and in 2017, the bar was finally ready to open.

You did the interior yourself?

Well, tearing down and stripping walls is easy. One day I’d tear down a wall, and the next day I’d work on another part. But the bar was open during the work, so customers would come and have fun seeing what was gone or different. Some people came there to drink just to see the bar change. (Laughs.) I did a lot of the other work myself, but I hired builders for the new parts. If I’d made the walls, they would have collapsed. (Laughs.)

After you opened P.C.H., it was selected as one of “The World’s 50 Best Bars,” and in 2020 it was chosen as “Best American Cocktail Bar” at Tales of the Cocktail®. Then, your new bar was among “North America’s 50 Best Bars” in 2023 and 2024. Were these splendid achievements part of your plan?

No, I was surprised. I hadn’t even thought about it before. I do this because I like this business and I like hospitality. I wanted to be part of a community and be of use to the people here. I wanted to be a bartender and serve people.

One thing my wife loves to say is, “If you work hard and you’re kind to others, you’ll be fine.” That’s all there is to it. I’m here to work, not to impress people. I’m just doing my job. If I’ve had good results, it’s because I’ve had a lot of great people around me. Other people have always been contributing to my career advancement. I’ve been blessed with a lot of wonderful mentors and people who’ve helped me, and that’s why I’m here.

The Bar Business Lost Many Experienced People in the Pandemic

What was the pandemic’s impact on the bar business?

A lot’s changed since before the pandemic. I think we’ve had a changing of the guard. We lost a lot of bartenders during the pandemic, many of them very experienced. Because of that, we’ve lost their guidance and mentorship. We lost those who would have been mentors to today’s young bartenders.

When I started out as a bartender, there were always more experienced ones working with me behind the bar, and I learned a lot from them. But during the pandemic, they closed their business, changed jobs, retired, or left the country.

This has created a huge gap between the experienced bartenders and the newcomers. There’s a lack of mentorship, and young bartenders don’t have the knowledge they need. They need successful role models to look up to, but without them, I can’t see them finding much success in the future. The professionals in my generation are nothing like the ones who came before us.

What direction do you see the bar business going in now?

With regard to the future, I know we have a lot to do now. One big change is the presence of social media. Learning materials are also much more accessible now, because you can go online and learn all about recipes, techniques, and how to use new carbonated drinks.

When I was younger, if I wanted to know how to do something, I’d first have to find someone who knew, then somehow get their phone number or email address and contact them to ask. But now we have lots of people who I call “basement bartenders” or “Instagram bartenders.”

I’m a little reluctant to call them bartenders. Sure, they’re making cocktails, but they’re not really bartending. However, I do think social media is providing people with the resources to learn about cocktails and alcohol.

Even if you don’t go to a school or you don’t know certain people, if you open up YouTube or Instagram on your phone, you can learn cocktail techniques or research something new about alcohol. If you want to learn about shochu, sake, or spirits, it’s all on the internet in the palm of your hand. That’s the future, and I guess we have to adapt to it.

But, as I said before, I got into this work because I like this business and I like hospitality. I wanted to be part of a community and be of use to this place and the people here. I wanted to be a bartender and serve people. What’s important to me isn’t the drinks, but rather the customers I serve.

I think there’s a special art to serving strangers without expecting anything in return. In Japan, you have omotenashi, which is a wonderful approach to hospitality that is done without asking for anything in return, right? That’s what I want to do. I’m just running a bar with the spirit of omotenashi, and maybe there’s a future beyond that.

⇒ Read Part 1: “Experimenting with Distinctly Flavored Shochu Makes Mixology Very Fun”