Vincenzo Marianella is an Italian ex-pat and one-time semi-professional basketball player. (Of his basketball years, he says, “I got bored, then I quit.”) He’s best known in L.A. for his cocktails. Formerly a bartender at Providence, he now runs the bar Copa D’Oro.

Q. What music have you listened to today?

A. I put it on shuffle, so I listened to a lot. But I’m an old guy so I like classic rock, country, classical. I mix everything.

Q. What is your favorite word?

A. Happiness and freedom.

Q. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A. A professional basketball player.

Q. What is your favorite cocktail?

A. Tequila.

Q. If you were about to be executed, what would you want for your final meal?

A. Something that comes from Mars.

Q. If you could only take one more journey, where would you go?

A. Around the world.

Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?

A. Motorcycle racer.

Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?

A. My dad would take me riding on the tube of his bicycle – the one that connects the handle bars to the seat – when I was kid, with my mom. This was years and years ago. They had barely invented bicycles at the time.

Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most like to meet for dinner?

A. Too many.

To read about Marianella’s panel at Jonathan Gold’s Union Station Cocktail Party, a fundraiser for Zócalo, click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido.