A former brothel in Paris’s 9th arrondissement may not seem like an obvious destination for Painkillers and Daiquiris. But at Dirty Dick, the California-born Scotty Schuder has transformed the red-light destination into a modern day tiki oasis.
After visiting Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas, a tiki revival bar that opened in 2008, Schuder was drawn to the theatrics of the drinks and was immediately determined to create his own tribute to the genre. Back in Paris, he took over the shuttered mafia-run brothel and cleaned up the space—keeping only the name. Since opening its doors in 2013, Dirty Dick has become a fixture in the city’s cocktail scene and a worthy port of call for any tikiphile.
A key player in the modern tiki revival, Schuder’s drinks call on fresh fruit and house-made syrups, bringing the quality of his cocktails back in line with what Don the Beachcomber would’ve served before tiki’s decline in the 1970s. Schuder, who sports a bicep-sized tattoo of the Beachcomber’s likeness, hews closely to the original formulas of tiki’s bygone greats, rebalancing recipes only when differences in modern ingredients call for it. One of the bar’s most popular recipes is his take on the Missionary’s Downfall, which swaps out lime juice for lemon and dials back the honey mix to account for the concentrated sweetness of crème de peche. While Paris is far from tropical, Schuder has created a bar to help guests forget about that—even if lasts for just one drink.
So what does Schuder do when he’s not perfecting his tiki chops? Here, he tackles our Lookbook Questionnaire to share the weirdest drink request he’s ever gotten, his universal bar order, and the first time he got drunk in Vegas. —Tatiana Bautista
Current occupation:
Owner of Dirty Dick.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Bartending on a beach.
Best thing you ever drank:
Havana Club Silver Dry Daiquiris at Sweet Liberty for Stuart Hudson’s birthday with John Lermayer. Surrounded with friends and bar family. It was so bittersweet.
Worst thing you ever drank:
The Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s. I was warned, but I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess. It should come with a shot of insulin.
First time you ever got drunk:
My brother took me out to (still my favorite dive bar) The Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas. We were celebrating my graduation from High Desert High School. Beers and shots later, I don’t think I even made it two hours before being taken home. I remember everyone on The Strip laughing at me while I projectile vomited from the window of the car.
If you had to listen to one album on loop, for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Songs for the Deaf by Queens Of The Stone Age
What’s the weirdest hobby you currently have or have had?
Bartending.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known five years ago?
How much money it costs to own a bar. SACRE BLEU!
Weirdest cocktail experiment you’ve ever attempted:
Making cocktails without alcohol.
What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not eating, drinking or drink-making?
Whooping my son’s ass at ping pong or pinball.
Weirdest drink request you’ve ever gotten:
A grown man asked me for a strawberry milk, and yes, he was alone. Second contender is when I was asked to microwave this man’s beer because it was supposed to be drunk at room temperature. NAH BRO.
Your favorite bar, and why:
Dirty Dick. We have been through so much together!
Best meal you’ve ever had:
I believe that anytime I’m lucky enough to feast with friends and family, that is the best meal ever.
What’s your go-to drink in a cocktail bar?
Beer, a shot and a Daiquiri.
Wine bar?
Rillettes, Camembert, and a bottle of Bourgogne.
In a dive bar?
Beer, a shot and a Daiquiri.
Your preferred hangover recovery regime:
Beer, a shot and a Daiquiri.
The one thing you wish would disappear from drink lists forever:
The word “speakeasy.”
The last text message you sent:
“I didn’t plan on drinking so much but the mushrooms were not as strong as I would of liked them to be.”