Category Archives: National shout-outs

Shaped by father’s legacy, Dallas bartender headed to New York to compete on the national stage

The Standard Pour
Christian Armando Guillen of Dallas’ Standard Pour, among a handful of U.S. bartenders competing in Wednesday’s Disaronno contest.

If you’ve ever seen bartender Christian Armando Guillen in action, you know how passionate he is about his craft – confident in manner, slightly intense with a burnish of flair. As lead barman at The Standard Pour in Uptown, he’s largely learned the ropes through observation and curiosity, with a particular talent for reining in sweeter flavors.

That has served him well, as he now has his first chance to compete on the national stage. Guillen, a 25-year-old native of Peru who came to Dallas 10 years ago (along with brother Daniel, another accomplished Dallas bartender), is headed to New York City today as the South Central regional winner of Disaronno’s Mixing Star International competition.

Guillen’s “Latino’s Legacy” cocktail was named the best submission among the region encompassing Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. He’ll go up against a half-dozen other regional champs for the chance to represent the U.S. in global competition — and to attend this summer’s Tales of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans.

Produced in Saronno, Italy (hence the name), Disaronno’s recipe is said to trace back to 1525, but it’s not an ingredient typically found on craft-cocktail menus. “It’s kind of the underdog of Italian liqueurs,” Guillen says.

The Mixing Star competition asks bartenders to create their version of the Disaronno Sour, a simple mix of Disaronno, simple syrup and lemon wildly popular in the 1970s (when simple and lemon would most likely have been some sort of sweet-and-sour mix). But the classic Amaretto Sour – which famed Portland mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler effectively fancies up with egg white and a bit of bourbon – has fallen by the wayside in today’s craft-cocktail renaissance, with bartenders generally shying away from sweeter liqueurs.

Some of that is reputation, since amaretto is known for its almond-sweet character. As a result, Disaronno is in the midst of a purposeful reinvention, attempting to shed its amaretto associations in hopes of reaching a more youthful audience. Sweet it is, though, with a syrupy texture: Britain’s Whiskey Exchange describes it as “showing marzipan or Battenburg cake flavors on the palate… This is definitely for anyone with a sweet tooth.”

However, Guillen is skilled at taming sweeter flavors and has found a way to harness Disaronno’s nutty properties toward good use. His winning drink merges Morgenthaler’s Amaretto Sour with the classic Godfather (basically Scotch and amaretto), outfitting a base of Cutty Sark Scotch whiskey with a healthy layer of Disaronno, lemon, orgeat, egg white, an apricot-vanilla-clove tincture and ornately applied Angostura bitters.

Christian Armando Guillen
In more ways than one, Guillen’s Latino’s Legacy lives up to its name.

Scotch is another ingredient fairly absent from cocktail menus, its smoky or peaty flavors often too strong for American drinkers. “That was a challenge on my part,” Guillen says. “I wanted to use something bartenders aren’t comfortable using.”

In his native Peru, his father always had a bottle of Scotch around the house that would appear at Christmas or birthday gatherings. Cutty Sark’s toffee and maple notes, he says, work well with the Disaronno, which in turn enhances the whiskey: The drink is sweet, but in an endearing and not saccharine way, with a pleasant texture and smooth, slightly nutty flavor.

As Guillen conceived his cocktail, his father was undergoing some major health issues in Peru that have weighed heavy on his son 3,000 miles away. That partly influenced the cocktail’s name: While it refers partly to the drink’s Italian influences, it also reflects Guillen’s Spanish European origins – and his father’s influence on his own life. “I am his heritage, his legacy,” he says. “Whatever I’m doing, I wouldn’t be here without him.”

Wednesday evening, Guillen will make three of his cocktails in 10 minutes for the New York judges at bar No. 8, presenting each with a very European board of Mascarpone cheese, Marcona almonds, prosciutto and orange blossom honey.

“I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished,” he says. “It’s been more vision and passion than ambition. Everything follows. You’re going to deliver if you’re passionate enough.”

Guillen left for New York City today. “What a better opportunity than making my debut representing the place that saw me become who I am now doing what I love doing the most, bartending,” he said of his first-ever visit to the Big Apple. “Not gonna lie, I’m a bit nervous (weird right?) on how things will turn out in this national competition. I am sure of one thing though, I will do everything in my power to bring that victory home!”

Disaronno Mixing Star contest
Guillen’s winning cocktail: The full presentation.

Boulevardier’s Eddie Eakin is The Man About Town (& Country)

Boulevardier's Eddie Eakin
Boulevardier’s Eddie Eakin flashes his winning smile.
I first met Eddie Eakin in July 2012 at the Libertine Bar, where he was in the habit of ordering a bun-less burger as part of his gluten-free fitness regimen. At the time, he was readying for his job at bar manager at Boulevardier, which was just about to open in the Bishop Arts area of Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood.
Since then he’s headed up one of Dallas’ better bar programs with quiet aplomb, and now it’s paid off with some national recognition: Town & Country Magazine has chosen one of Eakin’s as its signature cocktail.
That’s right: Town & Country, the high-society lifestyle magazine that’s also the longest-running general-interest publication in America.
Well done, Mr. Eakin.
Eakin's victorious cocktail, the Town & Country
Eakin’s victorious cocktail, the Town & Country.

About four months ago, Eakin caught wind of a national competition the magazine — which dates to 1846 — was holding for a signature cocktail to which to lend its name. Editors ultimately chose 20 recipes from bars and restaurants nationwide and submitted them to a judging panel at Harding’s restaurant in NYC.

“The only rules were that you had to send in a picture,” Eakin said. “That’s what piqued my interest. I’m a total Instagrammer. I like it more than Facebook.”

And in the end, it was his concoction that grabbed the honors. “I was very happily surprised to hear that I had won,” he says.

His now-official Town & Country cocktail ($11) is a melting pot of bourbon, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, dark amber syrup and apple bitters. The result is very much like an Old Fashioned with an extra smooch of sugar.
Eakin’s genius was in the concept: He just wanted to come up with something a reader could replicate at home with readily available traditional American ingredients. No fancy infusions, no juices to squeeze, no syrups to make. And since the publication goes back to the mid-1800s, he wanted his drink to echo American classics and flavors (hence the apple and maple). “If you break it down,” he says, “it is really a blend of a little Manhattan and a little Old Fashioned, two of the most quintessential classic cocktails.”
RECIPE (as published in Town & County magazine’s Aug. 2013 issue)
2 oz Bulleit Bourbon
1/2 Carpano Antica Formula vermouth
1 tsp Crown Maple dark amber syrup
3 dashes Bar Keep apple bitters
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice. Strain over large ice cubes in a rocks glass and garnish with an orange peel and brandied cherry.
BOULEVARDIER, 408 N. Bishop, Ste. 108, Oak Cliff, Dallas
The August 2013 issue of Town & Country highlights the Dallas bartender's recipe (courtesy Town & Country magazine)
The August 2013 issue of Town & Country highlights the Dallas bartender’s recipe (courtesy Town & Country magazine)

Tippling at Windmill: Dallas institution gets a national nod

Windmill Lounge
The Windmill’s Charlie Papaceno doing his thing — and getting a shout-out from Esquire magazine

Sometimes the little guys really do get the glory. While Dallas’ cocktail culture has gone from practically zero to 60 in a little over two years, a few enthusiastic souls were already out there revving up the engine before the whole thing even went into drive.

For the most part, those people are unsung pioneers. That’s why it was nice to see this month’s issue of Esquire packing a nice surprise for Charlie Papaceno and Louise Owens, owners of the veritable Windmill Lounge, the decidedly unfancy cocktail bar along a decidedly unfancy patch of Dallas’ Maple Avenue.

Some time earlier, someone at the magazine had asked the two to send a high-resolution photo of the place, and at most they figured (excitedly) that esteemed cocktail scribe David Wondrich was going to somehow slide in a brief mention of the Windmill in his column.

But when a patron came in and said that Wondrich had ranked the place as one of the best bars in America, Charlie and Louise were absolutely stunned.

Esquire magazine article featuring Windmill Lounge.
The Esquire magazine article touts the Windmill’s “crusty regulars” and all-day $3 highballs.

Wondrich’s introductory article laments the loss of dive bars, the vanishing crop of juke joints low on pretension and high on quality drinks. The accompanying list cites bars that are, if not actually dives, at least those that Wondrich figures have a chance to become long-lasting institutions. Most are fairly new, and the two I’ve actually been to – Bellocq in New Orleans, and Cambridge’s Brick and Mortar – are far from divey; instead they’re polished and popular, with excellent drinks and food beyond your standard bar snacks. The vibe at Bellocq was sleek and effortlessly New York cool, and I especially loved Brick and Mortar’s Whale Song, a plaintive splash of Jamaican rum, Amaro Montenegro, spiced cranberry and lime..

You would never find something called a Whale Song at the Windmill. What you will find are some of the best classic cocktails in town – solid Manhattans and fabulous Negronis, dished up by a pair of bartenders who have been at it for longer than most craft-cocktailers have been in DFW. You’ll also find, as Wondrich notes, a punk-heavy jukebox, crusty regulars and all-day $3 highball specials. Nothing fancy here, as I noted in a previous post on the city’s overall lack of pretension: No fuss, no frills, no fireworks (“The idea of fire in my bar scares me,” Papaceno says): Just your basic watering hole, a place to hang with your homies and drink the classics the way they were meant to be.

This is good timing for the Windmill, which tonight marks its 8th anniversary (has it been that long? seriously?) with a bash starting at 9:30 p.m., complete with DJ. Stop by, have a little rum or somesuch, and offer Charlie and Louise the congratulations they deserve. (Note: Parking will be tight, and surrounding lots are mostly off-limits: Papaceno suggests trying the Rio Grande Supermarket parking area.) You may find yourself tilting before long.

WINDMILL LOUNGE, 5320 Maple Ave., Dallas. 214-443-7818