All posts by Marc

Adventures in cocktailing, based in Dallas USA -- drinking globally, acting locally. Barmoire is Marc Ramirez -- journalist, boulevardier, lover of food and drink and winner of exactly one cocktail contest.

Bars, Bartenders, Uptown

Eight things you should know about Parliament, Eddie “Lucky” Campbell’s long-awaited cocktail den

08/27/2014 Marc 1 Comment

No doubt no one’s happier that Parliament is finally ready to launch than Eddie “Lucky” Campbell, the man who’s spent a good portion of his life dreaming about opening his own bar. Now, with the help of business partner Andrew Brimecome, the Man With The Fedora has finally achieved that goal in Four Lounge’s former space in Uptown’s State and Allen neighborhood.

Here’s eight things you should know about the place, which officially opens tonight.

1. The menu is gorgeous. In fact, it may be the most beautiful – if crazy ambitious – drink menu I’ve ever held in my cocktail-craving little hands. Within its heavy-duty exterior rest more than 100 libations separated into a dozen or so categories, each colorfully illustrated, pleasantly organized and sprinkled with historical tidbits. “London Roads” is where you’ll find the gin, for example; in “Forbidden,” the absinthe. And somewhere toward the back is a page dedicated to pie-in-the-sky libations (with prices to match); one even comes with a gift certificate for a hat.

Eddie "Lucky" Campbell — A thing of beauty: Parliament’s tome of tipples.

2. The menu won’t go live until next week. Until then, Parliament will be featuring its happy-hour menu — including one of Campbell’s favorites, the Ramos Gin Fizz.

3. The bar is a bit of a looker too. You wouldn’t be crazy if you felt somehow reminded of another place in Campbell’s past: From its chandeliered elegance to its wallpaper to its dark woody interior, it boldly recalls the Chesterfield, the cocktail haven that shone all too briefly in downtown Dallas, then fizzled when Campbell and then-partner Ed Bailey parted ways in late 2012. But it’s the half-decagon of a bar that’s the star here, a luxurious theater in the (half)-round that puts the drink makers on display.

4. There’s no kitchen, but you can order food. And then, like magic, or at least like your Uncle Morrie pulling a quarter from behind your ear, it comes from State & Allen Kitchen + Bar just down the street.

5. Those doorknobs are swans. And they come with a backstory. Seems Campbell and Brimecome were out shopping for door handles for their venture-in-progress, and Campbell came across the fowl knobs. There then followed some back-and-forth involving The Queen of England and potential bird consumption, and – well, suffice it to say it’s worth having Campbell himself spin the tale.

Parliament, Uptown — Yup. Those are swans.

6. The wallpaper is another story. A tale of coincidence and fate. Might want to ask about that one too.

7. The barstools tell their own story. Nestled around the comfortable half-circle bar that dominates the room, each bears a titular nameplate dedicated to Dallas cocktail-scene luminaries and others who have found their way into Campbell’s good graces, including Jason Kosmas (“The Pioneer”) and Michael Martensen (“The Professor”). I am humbled to be among them.

8. The bar is strong enough to stand on. But don’t, unless you’re Campbell himself. The gravelly-voiced bar veteran is a natural entertainer, and every now and then he likes to climb on stuff to deliver his pronouncements from on high. At Monday’s soft opening for industry friends that preceded this week’s official launch, he did just that, thanking almost everyone who helped breathe life into his dream, including the man with whom he’s shared a friendly rivalry for five years. “Nobody has taught me more about this cocktail game than Michael Martensen,” he said.

And with Martensen’s Proof + Pantry also officially opening tonight, Dallas’ craft cocktail scene is much the better for it.

Barmoire, Bartenders, Follow the bouncing ball, On the move

Stir-crazy: Dallas drink crafters lately on the move

08/26/2014 Marc 1 Comment

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek — She’s over here: Lauren Festa, now at The Mansion.

Bar peeps are on the move again.

If you’ve been looking for Lauren Festa, who until recently was working mushroom and elderflower wonders at FT33, she’s now overseeing the bar program at The Rosewood Mansion at Turtle Creek. It’s a much-heralded place in Dallas bar lore, having been presided over by some of the city’s most respected mixerati – names like Michael Martensen, Lucky Campbell and Rocco Milano. “An opportunity like this doesn’t come around very often,” Festa said just before leaving FT33 – and spied not long ago, the hospitality-minded bartender seemed content to have ditched the chain mail of her former Design District home for the proper vest of her dark, new Uptown den. She was expecting to roll out her new cocktail menu by last week.

Another new lineup of libations is up and running at Spoon Bar & Kitchen, where James Slater is the new bar program manager. When chef John Tesar opened Knife in the Palomar Hotel space where Central 214 used to be, Slater was among the bartenders who made the jump. The understated Panamanian is an able bar man and now has a chance to make his mark at Tesar’s acclaimed seafood restaurant in North Dallas.

After a nice stint with Rocco Milano at Barter, Stephen Halpin has joined the crew at Parliament, the craft-cocktail pearl that itinerant barman Eddie “Lucky” Campbell has spent the last year or so forming in Uptown’s State and Allen area. Formerly of Whiskey Cake, the Irish-born Halpin has proven himself an adept mixologist and should find a worthy challenge in Parliament’s extensive tome of tipples when the bar opens this week.

Joining Halpin at Parliament is Will Croxville, fresh from Libertine Bar and a stretch last year with the celebrated Bar Smyth. Croxville has the distinction of preparing to adjust his schedule around the nearly simultaneous openings of two highly anticipated Dallas bars: He’ll also be doing time at Proof + Pantry, Michael Martensen’s long-awaited spot in the Arts District, which officially opens Wednesday.

Perhaps you’ve noticed the absence of another bearded chap at Barter; Brad Bowden, a veteran of The People’s Last Stand, says that’s because he’s lying in wait for his new gig at Midnight Rambler at the Joule Hotel. The coming speakeasy-style bar is the venture of Chad Solomon and Christy Pope, whose Cuffs and Buttons cocktail consulting firm has put its stamp on many a bar program throughout the Dallas area.

Midnight Rambler — Ramblin’ Man: Brad Bowden, formerly of Barter, is on his way downtown.

In other news, Chase Streitz, the former bar manager at Sissy’s Southern Kitchen, has been spotted behind the bar at The Standard Pour (where Cody Sharp, former sous chef at the excellent Casa Rubia in Trinity Groves, has taken over the kitchen). And finally, when we last saw Matt Perry, he was making the most of the tiny bar space at Belly & Trumpet, Apheleia Restaurant Group’s restaurant in Uptown; after the briefest of cameos at Oak – one of Apheleia’s two Design District restaurants – he’s now behind the better-than-average bar at Neighborhood Services on Lovers Lane.

Arts District, Bars, Bartenders, Fancydranks, Food and spirits

Michael Martensen’s Proof + Pantry officially set to open Wednesday, Aug. 27

08/20/2014 Marc

Attention, craft cocktailers: Set your timepieces for Wednesday, Aug. 27, when Proof + Pantry, the long-awaited concept from mixmaster luminary Michael Martensen and hospitality management firm Misery Loves Co., officially opens its doors to the craft-cocktail public at One Arts Plaza in the Dallas Arts District.

OK, other publics are welcome, too, but it’s no secret that the fancydrank faction has been chomping at the bitters to witness the now-imminent reunion of some of Dallas’ most talented mixologists, whose diaspora was set in motion in November when Martensen left celebrated Bar Smyth and The Cedars Social to pursue his own ventures.

Last week, as first reported here, we caught a brief glimpse of that reunion when Proof + Pantry hosted a private 80s-themed party for those attending the 10th annual TEXSOM 2014 conference in Las Colinas. The space was still a work in progress at that point, with no menus to speak of, but that will change next week when Proof + Pantry unfurls its bar program (that’s the “proof”) and a food lineup heavy on global cuisine (aye, that be the “pantry”) from executive chef Kyle McClelland.

With Eddie “Lucky” Campbell’s Parliament also on the horizon, it should be an exciting next couple of weeks.

Arts District, Bars, Events, General revelry, Music, Reunited and it feels so good

Proof + Pantry party drops a bomb on One Arts Plaza, hints at what’s to come

08/13/2014 Marc 1 Comment

TEXSOM 80s Party — Though still a work in progress, Proof + Pantry hit a groove Sunday night.

The official opening of one of Dallas’s most anticipated craft-cocktail bars is about a week away, but sometimes it pays to be into wine: Attendees of last weekend’s 10^th annual TEXSOM conference, one of the country’s biggest wine gatherings, got a lucky peek at Michael Martensen’s Proof + Pantry space at a 1980s-themed bash that dropped a Super Freak bomb on One Arts Plaza Sunday night.

Beats dropped, wine corks popped, glasses were topped. Roast pig was served. Meanwhile, the mad bartending skills scattered to the winds when Martensen and his team left Dallas’ Bar Smyth and The Cedars Social in November crafted five shades of Negronis for a workshop-weary crowd eager to party like it was 1989. As reunions go, seeing bartenders Julian Pagan, Trina Nishimura, Josh Mceachern, Josh Hendrix and back-from-Denver Mike Steele simultaneously behind the bar again was sorta like Eric B. & Rakim getting back together – “and you ain’t seen nothing yet,” Mceachern said. “We’re just getting started.”

And indeed, Proof + Pantry’s rustic wood and metal interior is still a work in progress. In fact, one would have been hard-pressed on Saturday morning to believe any sort of gathering would be happening in the space 36 hours later, given its warehouse-like disarray. (Deadlines help.) But many features were already evident, like the Restoration-Hardware-esque decor, the classy illuminated modular shelving suspended above the marble-topped bar and the exterior courtyard with its Arts-District view.

There was more wine than anyone could drink, and with air-conditioning on the fritz in the immediate area, the sweltering atmosphere was like a jungle sometimes, it made you wonder how you kept from – well, you know. By night’s end, the contentedly reunited Proof + Pantry team was nonetheless exhausted, having worked nearly around-the-clock to make this moment happen. Still, it was clear that they wanna be startin’ something: This was just a taste of what’s to come.

TEXSOM 2014 — Attendees of TEXSOM didn’t stop ’til they got enough.

Barmoire, Events, Exotic tales of adventure, Gin, Tastings

From the Venezuelan jungle, a most unique gin — and a rare tasting experience for Dallas

08/12/2014 Marc 1 Comment

Hendrick's Gin — Out of the jungle, a mysterious elixir.

Whether the whole thing was for real it was hard to tell, but it’s fair to say we wanted it to be. As Dallas bartender Stephen Halpin would later put it, the lines between fairy tale and fact were “bewitchingly blurred.” What were the chances that Hendrick’s Gin’s master distiller and global ambassador would be dispatched into the Venezuelan jungle in search of a unique ingredient with which to produce a spirit that would never see mass production?

“This was an experiment,” said David Piper, the Scotland-based company’s global ambassador. “A little bit of an indulgence.”

So began the saga of Hendrick’s’ so-called Perilous Botanical Quest, a zesty tale of pluck and determination spun early this month for two dozen DFW-area bartenders and spirit enthusiasts at, fittingly, the Dallas Zoo.In a setting of artificial moss, magnifying glasses, mini-globes and creepy-crawly things under glass – a most exotic and scientific atmosphere indeed – containers of crispy edible mealworms and crickets offered themselves for the taking, the former echoing corn nuts, the latter salty sunflower seed shells. It all fit the brand’s cheeky, carnival-esque vibe.

Hendrick's Kanaracuni gin — Adventurous tales require adventurous snacks.

The mysterious gin – dubbed Kanaracuni – was labeled with clinical small-batch simplicity. As we explored our fantastical surroundings, a concoction was prepared – a mix of caramelized pineapple and peppercorn to which was added cinnamon, lemon, vanilla liqueur and finally gin. The drinks were served in distinctive gourds with metal tea straws, the kind with enlarged, enclosed ends with small holes to strain out leaves.

A short film delivered the thrilling narrative: The intrepid Hendrick’s team, joined by practiced explorer Charles Brewer-Carias and botanist Francisco Delascio, set deep into the Guayana Highlands, into an area “nestled among vertiginous crags and protected by ancient spirits” and hostile wilds teeming with what Piper not so fondly remembered as “lots of nasty little stinging things.” With them they had a baby 10-litre copper still, a small ice machine and generator, spices, freeze-dried cucumber and, judging from the final frames, at least one incredibly sturdy martini glass.

They were seeking an ingredient to complement Hendrick’s’ floral, green and spicy profile. The team befriended natives of the village Kanaracuni, a small-statured tribe with four-foot blowpipes who introduced them to local herbs and spices – many of them “mesmerizingly pungent, but not quite right,” said Piper, looking like a pith-helmeted Bradley Cooper.

Then, on the seventh day, they found scorpion tail – a leafy plant drunk in tea form by the locals as a digestive aid. (The same Venezuelan plant appears to be described in a 1968 article by researcher John H. Masters in The Journal of the Lepidopterists Society.) The taste was just what master distiller Lesley Gracie, a wee fairy godmother with a youthful smile and a mile-long mane of hair, was looking for. “We rubbed it in our hands,” she said. “It was very green, almost cucumber. I knew it would fit the profile…. I don’t think we could have picked anything better to strike all the cues.”

There in the jungle, Gracie produced a trial distillate, quickly deemed a success. She then made nearly 9 liters of concentrated scorpion’s tail, which with some difficulty the team managed to transport back to Europe. That became 350 liters of gin. “That’s all we have of this Kanaracuni,” Piper said.

As the film came to a close, we were treated to small samples of the prize distillate. No doubt the story’s allure added to its appeal, but it was lovely – the familiar Hendrick’s taste, less juniper-heavy than other gins and rife with floral and cucumber notes, but with a little extra, something like the tangerine-y sweet-and-sour taste of kumquat.

Then came a Kanaracuni martini. Eyes widened: Could this be for real, considering how little of this there was to go around? Dallas was one of only a select handful of cities on this tour, including San Francisco, Seattle, New York and Boston. But that wasn’t all: The Hendrick’s team then turned over to the group their bar setups – including a bottle or two of Kanaracuni – for our own experimentation.

“There’s very little of this gin,” Piper said. “It’s best to keep it as pure as possible. But the more you play with it, the more remarkable things it does.”

That Hendrick’s would create such a rare spirit just to showcase the brand’s pursuit of new flavors “was an extremely cool move,” said Tate’s bartender Austin Gurley. And to choose DFW as one of few venues to unveil it was an honor, too. “Dallas has stepped up in the cocktail world,” he said.

None of us were botanically informed enough at the time to ask whether this elusive Venezuelan plant was the same scorpion tail wildflower found throughout Florida and southern Texas. Maybe climatic differences make that a moot point, anyway. Yet despite the proclamation that Kanaracuni would never be available for retail, one had to think Hendrick’s would ultimately decide whether to produce more based on how it was received during this exclusive tour. Wouldn’t they?

But I later found an October 2013 article from London’s Daily Telegraph that detailed the same jungle narrative and noted that Gracie was then working on the final recipe for a small batch that would be available in 2014. A short time earlier, at London Cocktail Week, Hendricks’ Britain ambassador Duncan McRae had said the entire batch would be drunk during a series of special events the next year.“There is something quite special about a drink made in a finite quantity being entirely consumed over a short period,” McRae said then. “Once it’s been drunk, it will be gone forever.”

And if that’s truly the case, we had been part of a real adventure indeed.

Gin — The makings of a uniquely mystical and improbable tasting event at the Dallas Zoo.

Bars, Food and spirits, Most excellent ideas, Restaurants, Shots, You gotta eat

Driftwood has invented an even better way to eat oysters, and bacon is not even involved

08/04/2014 Marc 1 Comment

True oyster lovers know there’s no better way to enjoy nature’s briny gift to humankind than to slurp them right out of the half-shell. Well, not unless you’re at Driftwood, the Oak Cliff seafood oasis that has possibly invented the perfect way to love our luscious little friends – slurped right out of the half-shell and then followed by excellent half-shell shots.

Imagine yourself sitting at Driftwood’s newly expanded absinthe bar. Imagine it’s Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, because those are currently the only days when this is available. Suddenly – because you’ve ordered the oyster shell shooter special – four delicious Blue Point oysters appear in front of you, gleaming in their little half-shell boats. Of course you’re ready to pounce, but wait: Here come four glorious bottles, a beckoning backdrop to your bivalve bonanza.

Now, then: You may proceed. Oyster No. 1, down the hatch. Your friendly bartender raises the first bottle – mild, sweet La Guita Manzanilla sherry – and fills your still-briny oyster shell with a mini shot. You drink. Above you, clouds part and a sunbeam envelops you in a heavenly glow. (Your mileage may vary.) Each bottle gets its turn in a half-shell as you finish off oysters two through four: Del Maguey Vida mezcal. Laphroig single malt whiskey. And finally, sweet licorice-y Pernod.

The order is deliberate, explains Dallas bar man extraordinaire Michael Martensen, who hatched the concept in collaboration with UrbanDaddy Dallas editor Kevin Gray. (Gray had been eating oysters in New York once when he was suddenly inspired to have the barkeep top off one of nature’s cups with Laphroig.) “The sherry is soft,” says Martensen, co-founder of Misery Loves Co., which owns and operates Driftwood. “The mezcal is the next softest, but introduces smokiness. The Laphroig has a burn; it’s a smoke bomb in your face. And the Pernod is a whole other flavor – it’s got a dessert quality, so you want to finish with it.”

For those who haven’t ventured beyond more basic spirits, the four liquids might present a challenge, as several are generally acquired tastes. It’s a fine way to measure a companion’s taste for derring-do. But look, if you’re willing to put a raw oyster in your mouth, it’s not that much of a leap to consider accenting it with an intriguing alcoholic beverage, right?

The whole experience runs a reasonable 20 bucks. And just in time for National Oyster Day.

DRIFTWOOD, 642 W. Davis, Dallas., 214-942-2530.

Events, Restaurants, You gotta eat

Edgy, fun and sexy: LARK on the Park meets The 86 Co., and everybody wins

07/31/2014 Marc

Jason Kosmas — The 86 Co. spirits line, shown here at New Orleans’ Gravier Street Social.

Perhaps you are accustomed to your wine and beer dinners being proper, stately affairs. Perhaps you are given to gatherings punctuated with string quartets and at which your only words to a total stranger might be “Check, please.”

Then perhaps you are not quite prepared for Aug. 18’s “86 & Noise” dinner that aims to infuse Dallas’ LARK on the Park with an experience that head barman Matt Orth calls “edgy, fun and sexy.”

Imagine realigned tables and a revamped sound system. “It’s going to be as brash as possible,” Orth says. “But in a good way. We want you guys to mingle and jump around.”

And, possibly, to jump up and get down.

The four-course dinner will highlight The 86 Co., the celebrated spirits line launched in late 2012 by a trio of fine gentlemen including Austin-by-way-of-Dallas-resident Jason Kosmas. Kosmas, co-founder of legendary New York craft-cocktail bar Employees Only, will host the dinner along with Orth and 86 Co. Texas brand ambassador Omar YeeFoon.

“It’s not going to be like your normal wine-tasting dinner,” YeeFoon says. “We’re gonna try to make it very communal. We’re going to try to get people who don’t know each other to sit together.”

Bombay Sapphire competition — LARK on the Park’s Matt Orth, who not only knows how to make a good drink but how to enjoy one too.

In other words, wear deodorant. But mostly, prime your palate for a 6 p.m. cocktail hour with cocktails and tastings of The 86 Co.’s signature spirits: Tequila Cabeza, Ford’s Gin, Aylesbury Duck & Weave Vodka and Cana Brava Rum.

Dinner – which will include grilled shrimp, steak tartare and grilled jerk chicken – will start at 7 p.m., with each 86 Co. spirit having its turn in a Matt Orth-designed cocktail to accompany each course.

“The whole idea behind it is to just be fun,” YeeFoon says.

Tickets are $75 plus tax and gratuity. I’d make reservations if I were you.

LARK ON THE PARK, 2015 Woodall Rodgers Fwy, Dallas. 214-855-5275.

Bartenders, Cocktails are everywhere, Most excellent ideas, Music

Mixing craft cocktails with live music: A welcome experiment, Thursday at The Loft

07/23/2014 Marc

The Loft Dallas — Satisfy your cravings for both craft cocktails and live indie music simultaneously. Thursday, at the Loft. (Image courtesy of Haggar/CultureCollide)

Drink and song have long gone together, from them good ole boys drinkin’ whiskey and rye to Jimmy Buffett wasting away in you-know-where. So why not pair up some indie music with some craft cocktails? Or put another way: Some rock and roll with some shaken and stirred?

Spune, the promotions peeps who brought you the Untapped music-and-beer festival and Deep Ellum’s Index Fest, have another mix up their sleeve Thursday when the Walkmen’s Peter Matthew Bauer plays an all-ages show at The Loft: Local craft bartenders Trina Nishimura and Omar YeeFoon will be slinging cocktails, and if your worldly experience has introduced you to either one you know that their libations are exactly like music to your mouth.

The show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., is sponsored by Haggar Clothing Co. and Culture Collide. Southern Renaissance will open. Admission is free, but you must RSVP here. And then maybe VSOP there. Just get on it ASAP.

THE LOFT, 1135 S. Lamar, Dallas.

Bartenders, Cocktail Nation, Community, Events, General revelry, New Orleans, Tales of the Cocktail, Texas

Amid the mayhem, camaraderie: Texas weathers the Tales of the Cocktail storm

07/20/2014 Marc

Tales of the Cocktail's Absolut Welcome Party — At Tales of the Cocktail’s opening party, the great Dale DeGroff crooned Sinatra-style standards.

NEW ORLEANS — Here in the city that sets the standard for revelry, you never know what you might see: A Santa Claus in shorts, random people on stilts, or perhaps a llama. Add to that the loosely organized mayhem that is Tales of the Cocktail, the spirits industry’s largest national gathering, and you‘ve got “Rum Institute” class sessions, tasting stations disguised as giant Cointreau bottles and sponsored parties teeming with booze and spectacle.

Exhibit A: Absolut Vodka’s Wednesday-night welcome bash at Mardi Gras World, a circus-themed soiree featuring drink-slinging midway characters, Andy Warhol lookalikes in various sizes and craft-cocktail founding father Dale DeGroff crooning jazzy standards in the garden of gigantic floats. Or: the acrobat-dotted William Grant & Sons-sponsored party at Lakefront Airport, a restored art-deco edifice where I’m 85 percent sure I saw a camel.

Clockwise, from upper left: Esquire's David Wondrich at a Tales workshop; The Old Absinthe House; French Quarter llama sighting; The 86 Co.'s Jason Kosmas; Italian amaro producer Orietta Varnelli; a freakin' camel; a TOTC cocktail. — Clockwise, from upper left: Esquire’s David Wondrich at a TOTC workshop; The Old Absinthe House; French Quarter llama sighting; The 86 Co.’s Jason Kosmas; Italian amaro producer Orietta Varnelli; a freakin’ camel; a TOTC cocktail.

This was the 12th annual TOTC gathering; nearly 23,000 people attended last year. The whole experience can be a bit much, a day-to-day beatdown so grueling that it’s tempting to keep score. “Goodnight NOLA, you’re a worthy adversary,” went Dallas’ Trina Nishimura’s fifth-night post on Facebook. “This round however, goes to me.” (Her final score: NOLA 2, Trina 2, draw 1.) But the frenzy couldn’t obscure the little things that make the annual festival special: The random run-ins with friends not seen since last year, the face-to-face encounters with people known only through social media, the new friends made over spirited dinners and Thursday’s massive midnight toast outside the Old Absinthe House by members of the U.S. Bartenders Guild. The days were sprinkled with seminars on topics like bitters, a history of women working behind the bar or the Chinese spirit baijiu, but it was also worth taking a breather to browse the event’s bitters-and-book store or the Cocktail Kingdom-run shop with its gold-plated jiggers and beautifully reproduced vintage tomes like “Harry Johnson’s Bartender’s Manual – Or: How To Mix Drinks of the Present Style” (1900 edition).

Tales of the Cocktail 2014 — DFW’s Bonnie Wilson held down one of Anchor Distilling’s tasting stations.

The Lone Star State was well represented. It was Texas, of course, that kicked off the jauntiness with Wednesday morning’s Tiki Throwdown at host Hotel Monteleone. The next day, Bonnie Wilson, beverage program manager forFrontburner’s Fork It Over Restaurants – think Plano’s Whiskey Cake or The Ranch at Las Colinas – crafted mini cocktails for the sampling hordes at one of numerous drink stations in Anchor Distilling’s tasting room. Later that afternoon, Austin’s Chris Bostick represented not just Texas but an entire gender at a Battle of the Sexes event sponsored by Mandarine Napoleon. And that night, Dallas’ Brad Bowden (Barter) and Christian Armando (The Standard Pour) were among the many visiting bartenders getting behind the stick at festival-related parties popping up at French Quarter-area locations.

Austin-via-Dallas resident Jason Kosmas, the easygoing co-founder of legendary New York bar Employees Only and one of the driving forces behind Dallas’ now thriving craft-cocktail scene, took some time to talk up The 86 Co., the fledgling spirits line he started with fellow EO barman Dushan Zaric and liquor ambassador Simon Ford. He held afternoon court at New Orleans’ Gravier Street Social, describing his products like a proud daddy recounting his 3-year-old’s budding sports prowess. “If it wasn’t for Tales, I don’t think we would have had the resources and relationships to take it to the next level,” he said.

Friday night would bring yet another party, this one sponsored by The 86 Co. – the annual bar battle pitting half a dozen bars from around the country against each other in a raucous atmosphere to see who could best handle the pressure, evoke their home environment and make the best set of cocktails. In short: To see who was mas macho. As with last year’s event — at which Dallas’ late Bar Smyth made an admirable showing — the throwdown was promoted boxing-style, this time with fancy posters and clever profile cards proclaiming each bar’s staff, fighting styles and words of warning to the competition. In addition to the Tiki Throwdown team, the night’s powerful Texas showing included at least a half-dozen Dallas-based state beverage reps; bartenders Alex Fletcher of Victor Tango’s, Sissy’s Southern Kitchen’s Chase Streitz, Barter’s Stephen Halpin and Brad Bowden, Libertine’s Will Croxville and Driftwood’s Ryan Sumner; even cocktail gadabout Sean Reardon.

Upstairs, Houston bartending luminary Bobby Heugel poured mezcal. Vegas-based “Modern Mixologist” and author Tony Abou-Ganim singlehandedly lit up an entire corner of the dark room with his big-time smile. There was New York’s Julie Reiner, co-founder of the Flatiron Lounge, Pegu Club and Clover Club – but wait, who was that once again behind the bar at The 86 Co.’s station? None other than Dallas’ own Omar YeeFoon, the former Bar Smyth/Cedars Social cocktail magician who joined The 86 Co. as Texas state brand ambassador earlier this year.

My favorite sips of the evening, aside from the chicory-syrup-enhanced Milk Punch Hurricane poured at Boston’s Backbar, leaned toward the trending mezcal, including Vegas-based Herbs and Rye’s brilliant Smoking Mirrors – a spicy, sweet and smoky mix mining Fernet and pineapple syrup – and Denver stalwart Williams & Graham’s voluptuous Gold Digger, which matched the smoky agave spirit with Pierre Ferrand dry curacao and two kinds of sherry.

San Francisco’s Trick Dog would take the judges’ top prize, boosted by its carnival theme and cocktail-filled watermelons suspended in mini hammocks for midair imbibing through tiny spouts. Williams & Graham’s team – whose lead man, Sean Kenyon, would earn Tales’ nod as American Bartender of the Year, worked hard to recreate the bar’s library-esque atmosphere. A guy from New York’s NoMad climbed atop the bar and rained shots of premium mezcal into willing mouths, while Backbar was fronted in part by a fierce and impressively bearded madman with habanero eyes. Los Angeles’ Harvard & Stone was back there in a corner somewhere, out-crazied by the adjacent team from Herbs and Rye with its gaudy chandeliers and a leopard-bikini’ed woman the size of a Galliano bottle primping atop the bar, which in turn inspired Seattle bar man Rocky Yeh to peel off his shirt, leap aboard and let out his best beastly roar.

Could that have been what ultimately earned Herbs and Rye the People’s Choice award? Who knows, but it was that kind of night. It was that kind of week. And for a community whose living revolves around giving guests a great experience, a time to soak in camaraderie and a great experience for themselves.

“I’m Dallas bound,” wrote TOTC first-timer Lauren Spore, a cocktail waitress at Southlake’s Brio Tuscan Grille, in a Facebook post when it was all over. “But thank you to everyone I met, the new friends I made and the old friends who helped make this even more amazing. This has been one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had in my life and to all the people who made it happen, thank you.”

Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Tales of the Cocktail, Texas, Tiki

Dallas bartenders help create a buzz at spirits industry’s annual festival in New Orleans

07/17/2014 Marc 2 Comments

NEW ORLEANS — They came, they saw, they cocktailed. Never mind that it was 10:30 in the morning: That’s how Tales of the Cocktail rolls.

Naturally, no state was better qualified to kick things off than Texas, which launched the annual spirits industry’s opening salvo for the third straight year. The Texas Tiki Throwdown and its lively contingent of bar peeps representing Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio had transformed the chandeliered conference room of New Orleans’ stately Hotel Monteleone into a little tiki paradise, with thatched-roof huts, Hawaiian shirts and a makeshift parrot perched on the shoulder of Dallas ice master Mate Hartai.

It was the kind of atmosphere in which a woman with blue-green hair could tell you her name was Christa Monster and get away with it. The bartender from Houston’s Bar Boheme had won a Bacardi-sponsored competition to earn the trip to Tales, and her clever, crowd-pleasing Lady of Lake Laguna did not disappoint – a frozen blend of aged rum, coconut, orange soda, blue curacao and a spiced-peach-and-Sriracha puree that alternately offered ice and heat. “It’s like, not taking tiki too seriously,” she said.

Dallas was well represented, with seven bartenders stationed behind three tables knocking out drinks in all manner of tropical style. Along with Hartai, there was Brian McCullough of The Standard Pour, Bonnie Wilson of Fork It Over restaurants, Knife’s Charlie Moore and the soon-to-be crew of Michael Martensen’s Proof + Pantry: Julian Pagan, Trina Nishimura and the two Joshes, Hendrix and MacEachern.

“There’s too much to try this early in the morning,” said conference attendee Teddy Bucher, though that didn’t dissuade the Houston engineer, friends Laura Villafranca and Michelle Mata and the dozens of others mobbing the room from making a valiant effort.

Over in the Austin corner, David Alan, aka the Tipsy Texan, mined his own cocktail book for the Flor De Pina, a tequila concoction pairing tequila with St. Germain, while Houston’s Ricardo Guzman of the bar Trinity planted “KISS” cocktails on anyone lucky enough to try the mix of Veev, cinnamon syrup, lemon and pineapple.

Houston Eaves of the always reliable Esquire Tavern was among those representing San Antonio, churning out an intriguing Tiki Tejano with tequila, carrot juice and crème de cacao, plus the pleasantly sweet Coyote’s Den, made with aquavit, acai-based Veev, orgeat, grapefruit, lemon, simple and Peychaud’s bitters.

McCullough’s standout cocktail, which he called simply The Western, gave Treaty Oak rum a little giddy-up with orgeat, yuzu juice, mint and Angostura bitters. One attendee, having made the rounds, walked up and proclaimed McCullough’s drink the best. That prompted some friendly joshing of the Joshes, Hendrix and Maceachern, who were serving up their drinks from a punchbowl at the next table.

“You’re gonna trust that palate?” countered Hendrix, whose Flashy Slang – a cherry-infused blend of Sailor Jerry spiced rum and citrus, would get support from another attendee, Dallas underground-dinner chef David Anthony Temple.

But it was all in fun anyway, a means to kick off the first of the festival’s five days of workshops, tasting rooms, trainings, dinners, parties and general mayhem.

“I’ve been coming to this (festival) for years,” said Houston’s Villafranca, a high school counselor who got into craft cocktails when the pioneering bar Anvil opened near her home. “I went in there, and it was like – oh my god. I trust them completely.”

Between the three friends, they’d been able to sample most of the four Texas cities’ creations.

“Houston was great,” Mata said. Then she whispered: “But I’m leaning toward Dallas.”

Booze news and adventures in cocktailing, based In Dallas, Texas, USA. By Marc Ramirez, your humble scribe and boulevardier. All content and photos mine unless otherwise indicated. http://typewriterninja.com

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Booze news and adventures in cocktailing, based In Dallas, Texas, USA. By Marc Ramirez, your humble scribe and boulevardier. All content and photos mine unless otherwise indicated. http://typewriterninja.com

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Booze news and adventures in cocktailing, based In Dallas, Texas, USA. By Marc Ramirez, your humble scribe and boulevardier. All content and photos mine unless otherwise indicated. http://typewriterninja.com