10 Celebrity Chefs And Their Favorite Cocktails

Cocktails have long been integral to the fine dining experience. They can serve as both a prelude and complement to gourmet meals, and some can even be enjoyed alongside a dessert. And just as a sommelier carefully selects wines to accompany a dish, modern mixologists craft cocktails with precision by balancing flavors, textures, and, in the best cases, emphasizing seasonal and local ingredients. Since crafting cocktails can lead to real works of art, it's no surprise that many of our favorite celebrity chefs have their own favorite cocktails.

Now, we often turn to celebrity chefs for advice on meal preparation or restaurant selections. But we don't often seek out their cocktail suggestions. But that's about to change. After all, let's remember: These are people who have built entire careers by relying on their well-honed, sophisticated tastebuds — the same tastebuds that also help us determine whether we like a cocktail or not.

With that in mind, read on to find out which alcoholic drinks Ina Garten likes to serve at parties (while indulging in some herself), which classic beverage Rachael Ray favors, and which unusual citrus Martha Stewart likes to use in her libations. You might even learn a thing or two about what kind of ingredient combination makes a great mixed drink. Here are the favorite cocktails of 10 celebrity chefs.

It's easy to imagine Gordon Ramsay shouting the hilarious name of this cocktail across a busy kitchen — whether on "Kitchen Nightmares" (the show where he is famously foul-mouthed) or in his Atlantic City restaurant (where the wake up, you donkey cocktail is actually served). Ramsay described this favorite mixed drink of his to Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on "The Tonight Show" in 2016. After noting it consists of top-shelf tequila, cider, fresh honey, and elderflower, Ramsay proceeded to sample the drink with Fallon right there on the show.

Now, to be sure, there isn't anything particularly donkey-ish about the ingredients in this drink — but the tequila will certainly give you a wake up boost. Additionally, Ramsay specified the elderflower in the drink should be smoked rather than served as is, which gives the flavor profile of this drink a pleasantly unusual touch.

It's hard not to love a good gin martini, especially after a hard day's work. But Rachael Ray might love gin martinis (made by her husband) even more than the rest of us. Not only does her husband make her a tailored one on a regular basis — which he whips up with Castelvetrano olives and a splash of orange bitters — but she's even teamed up with Do Good Spirits to launch her own gin.

As Ray told Tasting Table in 2023, her new gin is designed to be great for cooking, as well as whipping up cocktails (including her beloved gin martini). The gin was initially sold in two flavors: One with an olive and herb flavor profile (for brinier dirty martinis), and a bright and citrusy one that's perfect for dry martinis. Additionally, both gin option was designed to make great additions to food. The olive and herb gin works well in shrimp and linguine, while the lemony gin is great in gazpacho or with grilled seafood.

Though the name of this cocktail literally means "wrong negroni" in Italian, that's only true in the sense that it's so wrong, it's right. At least, that's what Bobby Flay presumably thinks, considering the celebrity chef has named the negroni sbagliato his favorite cocktail in the past.

Similar to the classic negroni, this mixed drink also contains the bitter orange liqueur Campari and sweet vermouth. However, that's where the similarities end. The negroni sbagliato then incorporates Prosecco (a fizzy Italian wine) instead of gin, yielding a lighter drink that may be more apt as an aperitif.

Additionally, since Bobby Flay's favorite cocktail doesn't require any special tools (or even a shaker), you can easily make it at home, Simply combine the ingredients in a glass, stir them thoroughly, and bobby's your uncle. If you already know how to make a spritz, which is also made with Campari and Prosecco (but no vermouth), then you'll be good to go.

Alton Brown likes his cocktails to be fancy, or at least have fancy names. This includes what may be Brown's favorite mixed drink: the Boulevardier, made with bourbon (or rye), Campari, and sweet vermouth. Now, given this sounds similar to a negroni, with bourbon swapped in for the gin, you may be wondering why it has a French name — and the answer is Prohibition.

As the story goes, this cocktail was invented in Paris at a time when many American bartenders had to jump ship and head abroad in order to remain in their industry. The Boulevardier's name aptly recalls the streets of Paris, many of which are, in fact, boulevards.

Initially, the drink was reportedly made with equal parts bourbon, Campari, and vermouth. But the recipe has been updated through the years to include more bourbon than the other two ingredients (which can make it a bit too sweet or bitter for modern palates). That is to say that if you like bourbon or rye-based cocktails — Brown appears to prefer it with rye – this recipe can be made with plenty of the good stuff.

Ina Garten famously can't stand making single-serve cocktails, which is one reason why you'll often see her making large batches of cosmopolitans on her shows or Instagram account. After all, why bother making individual drinks for everyone when they'll most certainly love anything Garten whips up? Cosmopolitans aside, there aren't many cocktails that stand up well to being made in batches. Luckily, Bobby Flay came to Garten's rescue with another batch cocktail idea that she seems to have eagerly snatched up: autumn sangria.

Given the inherent difficulty with making certain craft cocktails in batches, it's hardly surprising Garten is such a fan of this sangria. In her "Cook Like a Pro" cookbook, the celebrity chef even mentioned she loves Flay's recipe for autumn sangria. This favorite cocktail of Garten's is made with spicy red wine, fall fruits like apples and pomegranates, cinnamon syrup, apple cider, and various types of brandy. It doesn't get much more autumnal than that.

You don't have to be a fan of vodka to appreciate a Moscow mule, especially if you make it according to chef Michael Symon's specifications. Indeed, one of his favorite summer cocktails is the Moscow mule made with rum instead of vodka. As Symon told Business Insider in 2021, "Substituting in rum in that situation, with some ginger beer, fresh mind, and citrus is, in my opinion, the perfect summer cocktail."

Of course, that's not to say you can't enjoy this drink even as the colder months approach. After all, as summery as citrus may feel, it is, at heart, a fruit whose peak season is winter. So when you're approaching the chillier season, keep in mind one of Symon's most essential tips for cocktail making: Always keep some citrus fruits on hand to add to your cocktail. Fresh and seasonal ingredients are essential to ensure this cocktail truly stands out.

The negroni, made with all liquor and no mixers, is a truly strong drink. Often used as an aperitif (on account of its bitter Campari component and sweet vermouth), it can also be a very effective digestif, given all that gin. Then again, if you like stronger drinks such as this one, you might just be joining the ranks of people who like this drink at any time, like Anthony Bourdain.

As the late celebrity chef told Barron's in a 2016 interview, "A negroni is a perfect drink, as far as I'm concerned." While Bourdain noted it's composed of alcohols he didn't necessarily love on their own, the combination was a success. As it happens, many other people may not like Campari (given its bitter saccharine flavor) or any kind of vermouth, which they prefer to add to martini's in symbolic terms (like waving the bottle around in the vicinity of the cocktail shaker).

So if the latter sounds like you, but you've been shunning negronis for this reason? You may want to give it another chance. You might be pleasantly surprised, and enjoy it as much as Bourdain.

It's well documented that Giada De Launretiis loves all things Italian -– indeed, she's made a career of it. So it should come as no surprise that one of her favorite cocktails is a drink called Italian amaro soda, a recipe for which only takes two minutes to make.

To start, select a bitter liqueur of your choice (amaro is the Italian word for bitter), then stir it together with ice, ginger ale, and a splash of lime. According to De Launretiis, this combination creates something akin to a soda for adults, so be careful not to drink too much of it at one time. After all, it may not contain any hard liquor, but things can get out of hand when an alcoholic drink goes down easily this.

Furthermore, De Laurentiis recommends consuming this drink as a digestif, since bitters are considered a classic digestive drink in Italy. It so happens that Americans consider ginger ale a helpful digestive, as well, so it looks like this drink may be the perfect post-meal tipple for anyone worried about tummy troubles.

Julia Child was not shy about using alcohol in her cooking — or near her cooking. Indeed, she made no secret of enjoying martinis, especially the upside-down martini, which is made with more vermouth than gin (instead of the other way around). While this cocktail may sound unpalatable to those who don't appreciate sweet drinks, or who prefer only a soupçon of vermouth in their martinis, it was one of Child's favorites.

Child was known for her love of French food and drinks, of course. She's the very chef who introduced America to French cooking in the first place with her book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." As such, she liked her upside-down martinis made with Noilly Prat French vermouth, which is produced in the south of France, and advertises itself as being relatively dry.

Incidentally, the altered ingredient ratio in this cocktail is ideal for anyone who may not want to indulge in a highly alcoholic drink. Increasing the vermouth relative to the gin brings down the alcohol content in the cocktail, after all, giving you less of a buzz when you drink it.

Martha Stewart has made her fair share of cocktails. But her all-time favorite might be her lemon drop cocktail, which she makes using a lemon simple syrup made with Meyer lemons. A hybrid between a lemon and a Mandarin orange, Meyer lemons tend to be sweeter and less bitter.

Consequently, her lemon drop recipe consists of freshly squeezed lemon juice, Cointreau, and the finest vodka you can find (which, in Stewart's case, is Belvedere). To prepare this drink, fill your shaker with the ingredients and crushed ice before shaking away, or simply mix the ingredients together in a glass before adding a large ice ball.

Either way, be sure to use actual Meyer lemons in this recipe and not just any old variety. This drink calls for a lot of it, so you might end up with something too bitter for consumption if you use a regular lemon. That said, if you do have lemons to use up, a bit of lemon peel as a garnish for this cocktail won't do any harm.