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, The maturing scene

2013 tried hard to be mean, but the scene in ’14 still looks keen: DFW’s best craft-cocktail bars

Windmill Lounge
Charlie Papaceno’s down-home Windmill Lounge: Still among Dallas’ standout craft-cocktail bars. (Marc Ramirez)

Oh, 2013. You hater. You tried so hard to suck. In the summer, just days after influential bar man Jason Kosmas announced he was taking his talents to Austin, you pulled the plug on my beloved Private/Social, where bar manager Rocco Milano had overseen one of the best cocktail programs in town. Then, last month, you shocked us with the sudden exit of Michael Martensen and his crew of highly talented bartenders from Bar Smyth and The Cedars Social, the two brightest stars in DFW’s craft-cocktail culture. With the unfolding of The Great Unpleasantness, a scene that had solidly come of age at last lost its innocence.

But hey, that’s part of growing up. And despite assertions to the contrary, craft cocktails as we head toward 2014 are alive and swell, showing no signs of peaking: Milano has resurfaced in a major way; Eddie “Lucky” Campbell is preparing to launch Parliament; Asian-Latin fusion restaurant Chino Chinatown has opened in Trinity Groves with Ian Reilly at the bar-program helm; Origin has restyled itself in Knox-Henderson with a promising drink lineup; and the Smyth/Cedars Social diaspora is sprinkling its goodies all over town.

Are you not entertained? To what do we owe this good fortune? It’s because we, my thirsty friends, have proven ourselves worthy. We’re a smarter bunch now when it comes to craft cocktails; our palates now welcome more flavor, complexity and originality. We like menus that mirror the season, varied but not overwhelming, with options both accessible and challenging. We want bartenders steeped in history and craft and eager to command the palettes of flavor at their disposal, ready to improvise when able. Is that asking too much?

No. And DFW has answered the call. Here are my top 10 spots as we head into 2014, in alphabetical order, BECAUSE.

ABACUS

Bars of the Year 2013
Bartender Jordan Gantenbein, one of Abacus’ signature Men in Black, pours out a line of 75’s. (Marc Ramirez)

OK, I’ll admit: I hadn’t set foot into Abacus since I first moved to Dallas three years ago – at least not until chef Ken Rathbun lured Lucky Campbell away from The Standard Pour in Uptown. Campbell, whose bumpy road has taken him from The Mansion at Turtle Creek to renown at Bolsa to the short, chaotic life of The Chesterfield and then to TSP, set about infusing Abacus’ solid martini-and-bubbly-focused menu with the Pacific Rim sensibilities that inform the five-star restaurant’s kitchen. The result: a boost of energy and derring-do behind the bar that have given Abacus’ Men in Black new street cred.

BARTER

Bars of the Year 2013
At the newly opened Barter, drink wizard Rocco Milano has a new workshop for his alchemy. (Marc Ramirez)

Where Rocco Milano goes, magic follows. The execution of Private/Social paved the way for a makeover of the Uptown space, and the results are terrific: The vibe is warm and woodsy, and the bar has been opened up to give Milano and his top-notch staff room to move more freely. The house cocktails are unsurprisingly great, but it’s the added features that really set Barter apart: Milano’s “book-of-the-month” set will feature selected drinks from different classic cocktail tomes every month; first up is David Embury’s 1948 classic, “The Fine Art Of Mixing Drinks.” Add to that a mix of high-end choose-your-poison flights and an innovative series of pours that illustrate liqueurs in various stages, and you’ll see why Milano is the cocktail geek’s cocktail geek.

BLACK SWAN SALOON

Bars of the Year 2013
Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name presides over the bar with no sign — the shadowy Black Swan. (Marc Ramirez)

Gabe Sanchez’ one-ring circus in Deep Ellum has a cult following, and with good reason: He’s been quietly cranking out some of Dallas’ more original concoctions at this dimly lighted, low-key speakeasy with the badass vibe you’d expect from a bar in the city’s tattoo epicenter. The Swan’s staff now walk the tightrope without the net of a cocktail menu, playing to tastes and whatever Sanchez has cooked up that day. Smoked fig jam with rye? You’ll find that here.

CENTRAL 214

Bars of the Year 2013
At Central 214, cocktails are farm fresh, a reflection of Amber West’s enthusiasm for gardening. (Marc Ramirez)

Bar manager Amber West has been among the city’s under-sung cocktail heroes, avidly and expertly using seasonal ingredients in her creations. Example: The gin-based, garden-in-a-glass First Course, like so many of her cocktails, is as beautiful to behold as it is to imbibe, with flecks of Tom Spicer’s arugula dotting its translucent surface; her Honeysuckle Gimlet is another standout. Though she’s moving into more of a consulting role to focus on gardening, the cocktails at Central 214 — located inside Hotel Palomar off the Central Expressway — will continue to carry her imprint.

FIVE SIXTY

Best bars of 2013
The buttoned-up precision of Five Sixty: It ain’t cheap, but the drinks are most excellent. (Marc Ramirez)

The spinning modern-Asian-themed Wolfgang Puck restaurant at the top of Reunion Tower has more to offer than a fantastic view. Yes, you’ll have to endure a 45-second elevator ride and the beastly $16 price tag per cocktail, but the drinks are a journey in themselves. They’re part of a rotating series of libations designed by the chain’s Lee Hefter — bold, original and artfully presented, mirroring the restaurant’s sophisticated vibe. Try the gorgeous Fog Rolling Over Mount Fuji or the Locked and Loaded, both among my top cocktails of 2012.

HIBISCUS

Best bars of 2013
Bar manager Grant Parker has given Hibiscus one of the city’s better cocktail programs. (Sheila Abbott)

Seats at the bar are few at this Henderson Avenue mainstay, but they’re worth the wait to gain an audience with bar manager Grant Parker, whose behind-the-bar expertise continues to steadily lift Hibiscus to new mixology heights. Parker hopes to gradually expand the drink menu with more adventurous offerings, but for now try his play on the lesser-known classic Emerson (also among my top-rated  drinks of 2012) or the luscious, rye-based Brown and Stirred.

LARK ON THE PARK

Bars of the Year 2013
Damon Bird of Klyde Warren Park area’s Lark on the Park, a welcome newbie on the craft-cocktail scene. (Marc Ramirez)

This Klyde Warren Park newcomer is a solid playa in the craft-cocktail game, excelling at wintery drinks in particular, so now’s the time to go and warm up your belly. Bar manager Matt Orth and his crew respect seasonality and do nice spins on the classics, too; if you’re into Sazeracs or Negronis, ask for one of their variations and you won’t be disappointed.

THE STANDARD POUR

Bars of the Year 2013
One of the signature chalk murals at The Standard Pour, a Dallas craft-cocktail mainstay. (Marc Ramirez)

Stacked at Ground Zero of the madhouse Uptown scene, barman Brian McCullough’s strong crew is primed to feed the weekend’s party-minded mainstream tastes, armed with what must be the largest arsenal of Moscow Mule mugs outside of wherever it is Moscow Mule mugs come from. But take a closer look at the bar’s wide-ranging, Prohibition-Era-themed menu and you’ll find lots more than vodka. It also doesn’t hurt that the dark, vintage-lounge-style space exudes fun, or that its chalk-mural-adorned bar is often a refuge for displaced craft bartenders (see Abacus, Bar Smyth, The Cedars Social above).

THE USUAL

Bars of the Year 2013
A loose attitude and mad skillz mark this consistently good spot on Fort Worth’s Magnolia Avenue. (Marc Ramirez)

I love this place, from its wry, respectable menu on up to its sleek, chill vibe and a team of able bartenders who never seem to be in short supply. The modest house drink list is nice – try the gin and apricot liqueur-fueled Parlor – but it’s the off-road adventures that are really fun; a spin on the classic Hanky Panky, for instance, or something using the most recent bottle on the shelf.

WINDMILL LOUNGE

Bars of the Year 2013
Windmill’s Charlie Papaceno introduced me to Ancho Reyes, a newly released ancho-chile-based liqueur. (Marc Ramirez)

The godfather of them all. Charlie Papaceno and Louise Owens have been crafting cocktails since 2008 in this dive-y spot off a remote stretch of Maple Avenue. Jason Kosmas – the co-owner of New York City’s Employees Only and spirit line The 86 Co. – did time here after moving to Texas, and early adopters Campbell and Martensen threw down in friendly competition back when as well. It’s still a bartender’s bar; you’ll find a number of mixers bellied up here, drawn by the Windmill’s unpretentious atmosphere and the staff’s easygoing approach. But there’s skill here, too, and innovation; it was Charlie who introduced me recently to Ancho Reyes, a recently released ancho-chile liqueur, and the bar was listed among Esquire Magazine’s top bars of America earlier this year.

Looking forward to what 2014 may bring!

Honorable mentions: Bolsa, Victor Tango’s, Boulevardier

Ones to watch: Chino, Parliament, The Cedars Social

Bartenders, Charity, Community, Events, The maturing scene

Holiday spirits: The buzz from Cocktails For A Cause 2013

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Matt Orth, Lark on the Park
He’s making a drink, he’s shaking it twice. Doing good for goodness’ sake, at Cocktails for a Cause 2013. (Marc Ramirez)

Whatever you were up to Sunday night, it was likely nowhere near as fun as the scene that blazed at The Standard Pour in Uptown, where Santa came early in the form of 50-plus bartenders who rained cocktails upon their imbibing elf minions. Beneath the rapids of glittering tinsel, a DJ dropped beats for the wall-to-wall crowd there to support Cocktails For A Cause, the second annual event benefiting Trigger’s Toys, a Dallas charity serving hospitalized children.

In the wake of The Great Unpleasantness that in recent weeks has thrown two of Dallas’ nationally recognized establishments into uncertainty, this was a much-needed breath of fresh air: The mood was frothier than a Ramos Gin Fizz, and aside from holiday cheer it came from, more than anything, the palpable sense of community that often goes unnoticed beyond the confines of DFW’s mixology circles. Bartenders who’d missed out on last year’s event had clamored to volunteer at this year’s, and the end result was a Holly-Jolly-palooza of craft-cocktail talent. These were the men and women who, as Abacus’ Eddie “Lucky” Campbell would later put it, have changed the way that DFW drinks – among them Campbell himself in his signature fedora; Windmill Lounge’s Charlie Papaceno in a gold smoking jacket; Jason Kosmas of The 86 Co.; and several Santa-fied shakers including Barter’s Rocco Milano and Michael Martensen, formerly of Smyth and The Cedars Social.

Cocktails for a Cause 2013
Bartenders Michael Martensen and Rocco Milano (foreground) and Christian Armando (background) were among the event’s top-notch talent. (Marc Ramirez)

Combined with what sponsoring spirit makers had contributed, a whopping $45,000 was raised for the cause. “It’s still overwhelming to me,” said Standard Pour’s Brian McCullough, who co-coordinated the event along with Whiskey Cake’s Sean Conner and Trigger’s Toys founder Bryan Townsend.

Actually, make that causes, plural: During the event, bartender Milano was informed that some of the proceeds would help defray expenses he and his girlfriend have accumulated in care of their months-old baby boy, who has been dealing with medical complications.

“Am I surprised? Yes,” Milano said. “Am I shocked? No. The greatest strength I always felt Dallas’ cocktail community has is a sense of family and unity.”

He was touched to receive such support, he said, despite his absence from the scene in recent months: Even as he made preparations to run the bar program at the just-opened Barter, he and his girlfriend were spending weeks upon weeks living in Ronald McDonald Houses in Fort Worth and Houston, where their son was receiving medical care.

“It’s a tremendous blessing, to be sure,” he said.

Hugs abounded, and then so did drinks and camaraderie; afterward, even as the post-club buzz fluffed up your senses and echoed in your ears, it was clear that something special had gone down.

“Last night might have been one of the best nights of my life,” wrote Townsend of Trigger’s Toys on his Facebook page. “… The overpowering support was just so profound I don’t know if it could ever be measured or explained unless you were there to see it for yourself…. We as a group and as a community did something bigger than ourselves, and it feels amazing.”

Cocktails for a Cause 2013
Even Austin’s Jason Kosmas, who helped put Dallas on the craft-cocktail map, came out to help with the cause. (Marc Ramirez)
Bartenders, Events

Enjoy craft drinks, help make kids’ wishes come true at Sunday’s Cocktails For A Cause

Cocktails for a Cause: And a good one, at that.
Cocktails for a Cause: And a good one, at that.

It’s holiday season, and that means you’ve added a few more things on your to-do list.

  1. Give to charity
  2. Have a holiday cocktail or two

Well,  joy to your world: Now’s your chance to do both at once at the second annual Cocktails For A Cause, happening this Sunday at The Standard Pour in Uptown from 6 p.m. until close.  The evening’s “ultimate pop-up bar” will feature $10 cocktails made by a rotating, ridiculously rife assortment of local bartenders, with all proceeds going toward Trigger’s Toys, a charity benefiting hospitalized children.

The cool thing, says charity founder Bryan Townsend – who named the organization after his golden Lab – is that bartenders have been clamoring to join in on the reindeer games. “It’s been overwhelming, the response,” he says. “People were actually really upset that they missed out last year.”

And not just because they might have missed the inaugural event’s spectacle of bar man extraordinaire Michael Martensen in a Santa suit: No, this is a chance to help make children’s wishes come true, to help create awwwww moments like the night when Townsend and his pals get to deliver a truckload of toys to kids Baylor Medical Center. “My favorite night of the year,” Townsend says.

Last year’s event, which Townsend coordinated along with Standard Pour’s Brian McCullough and Sean Conner of Whiskey Cake in Plano, raised $17,000. He’s hoping that Sunday’s event, combined with what sponsors have already donated, will raise as much as $50,000 to help fund the charity’s efforts in the coming year.

And so, 45 of your favorite drink crafters will be taking turns behind the bar, which as you might guess is just about every bartender in Whoville. In addition to Conner, McCullough and Martensen, the lineup includes Abacus’ Lucky Campbell, Alex Fletcher and Chris Dempsey of Victor Tango’s, Central 214’s Amber West, Bolsa’s Kyle Hilla, Bonnie Wilson of The Ranch at Las Colinas, Windmill’s Charlie Papaceno, a smattering of bar peeps from Fort Worth’s The Usual – the list goes on and you’ll be checking it twice to make sure you’re not just seeing things.

At Standard Pour
Brian McCullough, Mike Martensen and Charlie Papaceno will be among the all-star lineup at Sunday’s event.

“It gives us a chance to get together and have some fun and not compete,” Conner says. “To just throw out some really good drinks and raise money for the less fortunate around holiday time.”

They have fun. You drink craft cocktails from an all-star lineup of bartenders. Children’s wishes come true. Everybody wins.

THE STANDARD POUR, 2900 McKinney Avenue, Dallas. 214-935-1370.

 

Bars, Events, Prohibition, Theme parties

It’s been 80 years since the nation regained its sanity: No one’s going to blame you for wanting to celebrate

Victor Tango event
Want to celebrate Prohibition’s end? Victor Tango’s can help. (Image courtesy of Victor Tango’s)

In many ways, Prohibition was the best thing to happen to U.S. drinking culture. The Dry Movement’s successful forging of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1920 left imbibers with nowhere to drink legally except in foreign lands, which they did while visiting Europe, Cuba or the Caribbean. America’s suddenly employment-challenged bartenders went where the work was, resettling in places like Paris or Havana where their cocktail knowledge was infused with the riches of local ingredients, concoctions and sensibilities.

They say that that which does not kill you makes you stronger, and except for a nasty batch of bathtub gin, that may be true. When Prohibition was repealed on Dec. 5, 1933, many of those newly enriched bar peeps returned with their worldly cocktail know-how (and a penchant for rum or Champagne), and those that stayed in the U.S. now had new tricks up their sleeves for enhancing inferior booze. Plus we got speakeasies.

Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of the 21st Amendment, which 86’d the 18th for good. For those of you inclined to celebrate, options abound, some of which might have you rubbing your eyes in disbelief.

First, there’s Victor Tango’s on Henderson, where classic cocktails like the Sazerac or Mary Pickford can be had from 5 pm and onward this evening for the Depression-Era price of just 80 cents apiece.  A fancy drank for less than the price of an iTunes song: crazy, no? Make sure you’re sitting down, because here’s some absolutely off-the-charts insanity: From 3 to 7 pm at Plano’s Whiskey Cake, you can responsibly indulge in your choice of five classic cocktails — like the French 75 or the Moscow Mule — for just a nickel apiece. Yes, you may need to be pinched right about now.

Uncharacteristically, tonight’s least lunatic Repeal Day gathering will be at Dallas’ Windmill Lounge, where authors Jeffrey Yarbrough and Rita Cook will be signing their book, “Prohibition in Dallas and Fort Worth: Blind Tigers, Bootleggers and Bathtub Gin,” all while presumably having cocktails.  That event runs from 5 to 7 p.m.

Additionally, a number of cocktail artists formerly of Smyth and Cedars Social will be behind the bar tonight at Bolsa from 9 p.m. onward.

So remember, while the repeal of the 18th Amendment might be to blame for Cinnabon-flavored vodka, it’s also the reason you can publicly enjoy a decent Old Fashioned all year long, and that’s one civics lesson worth remembering, at least for a night. As Alex Fletcher, Victor Tango’s bar manager, put it: “We’re celebrating our right to mix, stir, and shake up some serious libations.”

Power to the people.

VICTOR TANGO’S, 3001 N. Henderson, Dallas. 214-252-8595.

WHISKEY CAKE, 3601 Dallas Parkway, Plano. 972-993-2253.

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

BOLSA, 614 W. Davis, Dallas. 214-943-1883.

Restaurants, The maturing scene, Why doesn't this happen more often, You gotta eat

Pairing spirits with dinner: More of that, please.

 

Whiskey Cake, Plano
Plays well with food: Last month’s whiskey-paired dinner at Plano’s Whiskey Cake.

More than three years later, the memories linger. Five courses at one of the city’s best restaurants, each paired with cocktails made by five of the city’s best bartenders, and all featuring Maker’s Mark whiskey.

The scene was Seattle’s Spur Gastropub, and the chefs were rocking it as usual. (Example: sous vide pork belly with sunchokes and Bing cherries – whut whut?) The all-star bartender lineup cranked out an assembly line of original cocktails like the Pine Box, with its grilled-pineapple garnish. There was even some Maker’s 46, which was about to hit the market in summer 2010. We were a happy bunch.

I moved to Dallas soon afterward, and since then I’ve been to barely a handful of spirit or cocktail-themed dinners, though not for lack of want. Last month some friends and I hit a Hudson Whiskey-themed dinner at Whiskey Cake in Plano. And as I do every time I go to one of these events, I wondered: Why doesn’t this happen more often?

Wine and beer dinners have long been a thing, but bartenders like J.W. Tate – formerly of Tate’s Dallas – at first faced resistance to the notion of making a one-stop night of cocktails and food. That’s starting to change as DFW’s cocktail culture comes of age – a welcome and logical step in the scene’s continuing evolution.

Tate’s offered two spirits-paired dinners before J.W. left Dallas earlier this year to head up a company venture in Winston-Salem, N.C., and places like Dallas’ Libertine Bar and La Duni have experimented with the idea too. “People are trying it,” says Libertine’s Mate Hartai. “It’s just going to take a while for the wheels to hit the ground.”

Seattle
Among a cocktail dinner’s challenges: Quickly producing drinks en masse. At Seattle’s Spur, an assembly line of bartenders churn out pairings for a Maker’s Mark dinner.

One reason for the slow going is that these dinners — which generally run from $35 to $100 — aren’t easy to pull off. Cocktails are time-intensive and demand smaller groups; achieving drink consistency can be difficult when produced in a bunch. And the kind of patron who embraces the idea of a cocktail dinner isn’t going to tolerate pre-batched drinks.

On the other hand, the ever-broadening assortment of quality spirits, cordials and apertifs give bartenders a grand palette to work from.

“It’s rewarding when you do it right,” Hartai says. “But it’s much more difficult than people think.”

***

The glasses are set, pretty orbs in a row, when a legion of Sazeracs appear in our midst. The classic cocktail is the evening’s first volley at last month’s Hudson-themed dinner at Whiskey Cake. The Plano restaurant’s dinner showcased the Hudson line’s various incarnations, from its New York Corn Whiskey, well paired with chef Brent Hammer’s charred octopus; and Four Grain Bourbon, solidly supporting an extraordinary, In-N-Out-inspired dry-aged-sirloin burger; and more.

Whiskey Cake, Plano
Whiskey Cake’s Hudson dinner kicked off with a classic Sazerac.

Sean Conner, Whiskey Cake’s beverage director, tackles pairings the way he does cocktails, dissecting courses’ flavor profiles to match. “Certain things go with blackberry or cinnamon or basil,” he says. “It takes six weeks to plan out four or five different cocktails and make them really special.”

Pairing cocktails with food offers some of the same challenges that went into creating, say, sweet-and-sour chicken, with its mix of sweet and savory. “You try to figure out how someone else solved that puzzle,” says Libertine’s Hartai. “To me, that’s really fun. It takes a lot of out-of-the-box thinking.”

Last year, when Tate’s offered a cocktail-paired dinner with chef DAT (David Anthony Temple), “DAT sent over a menu, and I riffed on that,” Tate says. “We talked a bit, and I threw out a cocktail menu, and we each made changes as it got closer…. It’s a lot like making music, with two people jamming – you throw something out there and the other person runs with it, and five weeks later you’ve got something.”

When Temple said he was doing garlic soup, Tate immediately thought of Campari and came up with a drink called the Italian Resistance. On its own, the drink’s various elements struggled to mingle, but fared much better as a pairing. Similarly, a chanterelle-and-pink-peppercorn-infused vodka drink went nicely with Temple’s speck and arugula salad but its savory character made it less pleasurable as a stand-alone cocktail.

The bar’s whiskey-themed dinner in April was a treat, pairing peppery Buffalo Trace Single Oak Barrel whiskey, for instance, with corn soup with fried pig ear, parsley crème fraiche and house-made hot sauce.

J.W. Tate, formerly of Tate's Dallas, among spirit-paired dinners' early adopters.
J.W. Tate, formerly of Tate’s Dallas, which was among spirit-paired dinners’ early adopters.

And last year, at Libertine’s whiskey-and-beer-paired dinner featuring three Scotches and two hefty beers, Hartai wanted to echo the flavors of Lagavulin. “I sat down with the chef and said, `I need smoke, earth and some kind of heat.’ He did a mushroom compote with this awesome smoked-pork thing and some vinegary thing for a kick. It took the whiskey apart into its larger flavor components.”

More recently he did what he called an Italian dinner, but by dinner’s end he had unveiled it more precisely as a vermouth-paired dinner. “The whole point was to change people’s minds about vermouth,” he says. “By the end, people were drinking straight glasses of vermouth and saying, `This is great!’ Well, yeah, it is.”

Hartai likes to save a palate-testing curve ball for the last course. “I want to jar people, give them a reason to talk,” he says. “If you realize you’re putting together an experience aimed at creating lasting memories and challenging palates, you can make an awesome dinner.”

Tate's Dallas whiskey dinner
At Tate’s whiskey dinner, Buffalo Trace Single Oak Barrel was paired with this delicious corn soup with fried pig ear.
Whiskey Cake's dinner featured this tasty sirloin burger alongside Hudson's Four Grain Bourbon.
Whiskey Cake’s dinner featured this tasty treat alongside Hudson’s Four Grain Bourbon.

Looking for a cocktail or spirits-themed dinner? Contact these spots and see what’s on the schedule, or follow them on Facebook.

WHISKEY CAKE KITCHEN AND BAR, 3601 Dallas Parkway, Plano. 972-993-2253. Offers quarterly alcohol-paired dinners.

LIBERTINE BAR, 2101 Greenville Ave., Dallas. 214-824-7900. Does dinners monthly, generally beer.

LA DUNI LATIN KITCHEN, four locations in Dallas/Fairview. Offers cocktail-paired, three-course dinners. Join the restaurant’s “inner circle” at one of its locations or at www.laduni.com to advance notice of such events.

KOMALI, 4152 Cole Ave., Dallas. 214-252-0200. Offers occasional tequila- and mezcal-paired dinners.

Bartenders, Cocktail Nation, Events

Cheers! Documentary about the faces behind the craft-cocktail revival to screen Monday in Dallas

 

Documentary by Douglas Tirola
Raising the bar. (Image courtesy of 4th Row Films)

“The culture of drink endures because it offers so many rewards… above all the elusive promise of friendship and love.”

– Pete Hamill, from the documentary Hey Bartender

Yeah, think about that. You’re at your favorite bar, which is your favorite bar because they know what you like, or are clever enough to play to your tastes, or because they give you that little extra pour, or because they slyly started that conversation with you and that cute girl two seats away – but wait. Who’s they?

It’s bartenders, that’s who. And in this craft-cocktail renaissance that has demanded even higher levels of professionalism from those fine gents and damsels behind the counter, they are your tour guides.

Now comes a 2013 documentary that marks their role in the ongoing cocktail revival. Hey Bartender will screen at 7 p.m. Monday at the Highland Park Village Theater. Written and directed by Douglas Tirola, the film launched in New York City and Los Angeles earlier this year and follows the ups and downs of two bartenders: Steve Schneider, a retired U.S. Marine who hopes to tend bar at New York City speakeasy Employees Only; and Steve Carpentieri, owner of Dunville’s, a struggling pints-n-shots corner bar in small-town coastal Connecticut.

Employees Only, of course, is where Texas’ own Jason Kosmas earned his juice as one of the pioneering bar’s co-owners before he relocated to Dallas. (It’s also a bar Esquire’s David Wondrich calls “the greatest date bar in the world.”) Kosmas, who now co-owns The 86 Co. spirits venture, has since moved to Austin but had helped convince 4th Row Films to offer the screening here.

Hey Bartender documentary
Steve Schneider of New York’s pioneering speakeasy Employees Only is among those featured in the film. (Image courtesy of 4th Row Films)

The events in Hey Bartender take place about the time Kosmas came to Texas – one reason, he says, he’s not more prominently featured in the film. On the other hand, it gave him the chance to see Dallas cocktail culture go from tottering baby deer to the swaggering buck it is today. (And of course Kosmas had much to do with that, though he doesn’t say so.)

In that sense, getting 4th Row Films to screen the film here was a way to thank his local bartending and alcohol industry community for eschewing the standard vodka-and-Red-Bull approach to help to bring the scene to where it is now.

The film features contributions from Dale DeGroff, widely acknowledged as man behind the revival; Charlotte Voisey, representative for family-owned distillery William Grant and Sons, which has partnered with the film; and prominent New York bar owners and drink makers Jim Meehan, Audrey Saunders and Sasha Petraske.

The film features a black-and-white photo of a youthful, less hirsute Kosmas in his mid-20s, when he met fellow Employees Only co-owner Dushan Zaric. Both were tending bar at Pravda, Dale DeGroff’s first venture outside the famed Rainbow Room. “We were kids,” he says.

Tickets to the film are $11.95, but seats are very limited. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to call the theater beforehand to confirm availability. Or try buying tickets here. Kosmas, for one, will be returning to Dallas for the occasion.

“I’m really excited,” he says. “It’ll be great to come back home.”

Because sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.

HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE THEATER, 32 Highland Park Village. 214-443-0222.

Champagne, Events

Pogo’s second annual Champagne event aims to put some bubbles in your weekend — and your holidays

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Bubble, bubble, worth the trouble.
Bubble, bubble, worth the trouble.

Champagne. Say it one way and it conjures thoughts of the holidays. Say it another and it’s all Christopher Walken. Chaam-PAAN-yuh. But we’re not going to worry about that one right now, because Pogo’s Wine & Spirits is out to make our holiday Champagne selection a little bit easier – and our afternoon a little bit happier – with its second annual Champagne Festival on Saturday.

The event features 30 Champagnes ready for sampling, from Bollinger and Delamotte to Piper Heidsieck and Dom Perignon. There’ll be nibbles, too. And best of all, it’s free.

These two hours of bubbly merriment start at 3 pm Saturday. For more information about Pogo’s, check out their web site at https://pogoswine.com/. That’s Pogo’s Wine, not to be confused with Pog o’Swine or anything else Christopher Walken might say while wearing a bathrobe.

POGO’S WINE AND SPIRITS, 5360 West Lovers Lane, Dallas. 214-350-8989.

Events, Most excellent ideas, You gotta eat

Down and Dirty on the Boulevard: Gettin’ our picnic on at Chefs for Farmers 2013

Chefs for Farmers 2013
Boulevardier’s Eddie Eakin knocking out Maker’s 46 cocktails at Chefs for Farmers 2013.

Hey, Chefs For Farmers: You can tell everybody this is your song, because last weekend I was reminded like a big slap in the face how wonderful life is when you’re in the world. Or in Dallas, anyway.

Yep: Four days later, I’m still recovering from the Elton-John-esque epicness that was Chefs For Farmers 2013, which brought more than a thousand of my fellow food and drink aficionados to Dallas’ Robert E. Lee Park to basically form obstacles between my appetite and all the tasty consumables that were there to be had.

Chefs for Farmers 2013
Cafe Momentum’s smoked bison tamale with fig mole, among Sunday’s culinary bounty.

 

 

 

 

 

Not that it mattered. I realized that by the end of the all-afternoon event that I had partaken of cow, pig, bison, duck, rabbit and boar, not to mention a bit of chicken liver spread. (Thanks to a late dinner at Nora, I managed to add lamb to the day’s lineup, too.) As CraveDFW’s Steven Doyle put it, there were a lot of critters in my belly.

Little of the fare could be called average. Far more of it ranged from very good to outstanding, from Parigi’s wild boar Bolognese (my personal fave) to the short-rib soup from The Mansion At Turtle Creek (fab) to the euphoria-inducing maple-pecan-bacon ice cream (!!!) from Jack Perkins of Maple and Motor and Slow Bone BBQ. Dude, Sweet Chocolate’s drinking chocolate with carrot-lemon foam was a standout, too.

But there were drinks, too, which is what had initially drawn your intrepid cocktails scribe to the picnic-blanket-and-revelry-covered scene. Boulevardier’s Eddie Eakin, High West Distillery’s Chris Furtado and Ten Bells Tavern’s Greg Matthews cranked out Maker’s 46 magic – including Eakin’s Steep Buzz, which married the Kentucky bourbon with  Earl Grey honey syrup, ginger liqueur, lemon and apple bitters. “I’ve never made a thousand cocktails at once before,” Eakin said, managing not to seem overwhelmed.

Chefs for Farmers 2013
Ryan Sumner and Julian Pagan of Cedars Social, craftily engineering a good time for all.

The drinks poured forth from nearby fellow libationists, including Cedars Social’s Julian Pagan and Ryan Sumner, Central 214’s Amber West, Abacus’ Lucky Campbell and The People’s Last Stand’s Brad Bowden. I had to give my nod to the Autumn’s Apple cocktail from The Standard Pour’s Christian Armando and Brian McCullough, a spicy medley of Patron Reposado, cinnamon syrup, lemon, apple cider and Angostura bitters.

Until next year, Chefs For Farmers, when I’m counting on one of those excellent chefs to bring some goat to the party. Don’t go breakin’ my heart.

Chefs For Farmers 2013
Chef David Anthony Temple got into the fun with attendee Sheila Abbott.

 

Chefs for Farmers 2013
Christian Armando of Standard Pour doing double-duty.
Event program
Chefs For Farmers 2013
CraveDFW’s Steven Doyle awards me my Maker’s Mark pin.
Barmoire, Cocktail Nation

Denver’s craft cocktail pioneers have the right altitude

Colt & Gray's Cinco de Cuatro: Tequila, Del Maguey Albarradas mezcal, lime, Drambuie
Colt & Gray’s Cinco de Cuatro: Tequila, Del Maguey Albarradas mezcal, lime, Drambuie

DENVER – Whenever I travel to a new city, I like to immerse myself in the customs and culture of the local inhabitants, and by that of course you know I am talking cocktails. I’ve endured the ennui of countless connecting flights at Denver’s airport through the years, but it wasn’t until early this month, prompted by friends, that I visited the actual city for the first time and found that, if you head into Denver’s growing cocktail scene in search of a guy named Brian Smith, you can’t go wrong.

I wasn’t sure what I’d find in Denver besides, possibly, the head of John Elway carved into the side of a mountain, so I was mildly surprised to discover the modest buffet of fine libations thriving in this scenic, famously Mile High City. With its progressive atmosphere, outdoorsy vibe and beautiful setting, it recalled grunge-era Seattle — my former home — before the city was overrun with nouveau riche. The best part is that the half-dozen or so craft cocktail sites I visited were within a couple miles of each other: Downtown Denver and its nearby vibrant, hipster ‘hoods are highly walkable, or at least within reach of a quick cab ride – one foundation of a prime imbibing culture.

In downtown’s hotspot LoDo neighborhood, artisanal-beer-focused Euclid Hall offered a short list of quality beer cocktails – including the excellent Montezuma, in which Peach Street bourbon, Leopold’s orange liqueur and Campari played gracious hosts for Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale. Not far away, dark and thinly veiled behind a basement-level pie shop, Green Russell mined a strict speakeasy vibe, though I found its cleverly named drinks overly complex. The cool thing, though, was they actually had great pie.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign: The house rules at Green Russell.
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign: The house rules at Green Russell.

Farther away, in trendy Highland, the bar crew at acclaimed restaurant Old Major (“seafood, swine and wine”) kept the throngs awaiting dinner tables ably supplied with solid drinks — including a top-notch Negroni, honestly one of the best I’ve ever had.

A friend and I enjoyed some lamb chops and octopus while awaiting entry to Williams & Graham, another popular speakeasy-style bar down the street. Concealed behind a moving bookcase, W&G’s formidable leather-bound menu had a welcome twist I hadn’t seen before: The pages following its basic house cocktail list not only named its spirits by type (gin, rum, agave, etc.) but offered lively, impressively pedigreed descriptions and a few classic cocktails built around each. For example, W&G’s list of Cognac, Brandy and Eau de Vie was preceded by a backgrounder penned by Esquire’s David Wondrich, then followed by related classic cocktails that a curious and/or inspired drinker might consider ordering – the Brandy Crusta, the Pisco Sour, the applejack-driven Jack Rose. In short, a nifty way to be enlightened and linked to cocktail history while sipping a tasty drink.

The shadowy interior of Williams & Graham.
The shadowy interior of Williams & Graham.

Retro-themed restaurant Squeaky Bean may have been my favorite of the bunch. There we found Brian Smith No. 1, the bar manager whose fanciful menu included a trio of cocktails prepared liquid-nitrogen style – a century-old cold-freeze technique that has recently caught some heat – but with some method to his madness.

Smith, who took over Squeaky Bean’s bar program in August, uses liquid nitrogen to plunge the temperature of the glass to a point where even alcohol freezes once poured in. At 40 degrees below zero, the liquid nitrogen boils and evaporates, priming the glass for Smith’s pre-made concoctions, which turn ice-solid before gradually thawing.

“It’s not exactly a slushy,” he says. “It’s not alcohol with little chunks of ice in it. It’s literally crystallized. It’s frozen.”

Liquid nitrogen goes into the glass, then boils away.
Liquid nitrogen goes into the glass, then boils away.

He ‘s not just making any drinks: Smith purposely chose cocktails he says were corrupted from their original form by being turned into frozen slushes over the years: The Hurricane, the Daiquiri and the Margarita. (Though Smith has modified and renamed them Gypsy, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, after characters from the show Mystery Science Theater 3000.)

Smith’s liquid-nitrogen process allows the imbiber to essentially have two cocktails in one: A frozen one – and the original, once the drink has thawed.

At Denver's Squeaky Bean, Brian Smith No. 2's Rocky Mountain alchemy.
The pre-made cocktail is poured in….

Drinking actual liquid nitrogen, by the way, would be an error. Hence the outcry that arose last year when a British bartender failed to remove the substance from a cocktail he served to a young woman celebrating her 18th birthday; she was rushed to the hospital with a perforated stomach. Smith properly ensures all the liquid nitrogen has boiled away, or pours out the residue, before adding the cocktail to the glass. It’s a matter of caution, he says – the same caution he’d take when adding a flamed element to a drink.

The cocktails he pours in are ready to drink as-is. “A good strawberry daiquiri is still a good strawberry daiquiri,” he says. “The cerebral part for me it to turn it, literally, into a frozen cocktail… It’s sort of being playful and saying: ‘This is both.’ It starts as liquid but then freezes into the bastard son of what it originally was.”

... and then freezes solid, before turning to slush.
… and then freezes solid, before turning to slush.

The next day brought brunch at Linger, a globally themed “eatuary” with a sweet view of downtown. The site was once Olinger Mortuary; after its extreme makeover, the new owners lopped the “O” off the huge sign atop the place and then proceeded to pour amazing coconut gin fizzes.

Linger's coconut gin fizz: Starting your weekend morning off right.
Linger’s coconut gin fizz: Starting your weekend morning off right.

Denver is also home to the original Savory Spice Shop, a bartenders’ favorite for its primo extracts such as lavender, vanilla and black walnut. Even Dallas’ Mike Martensen, of Cedars Social and Bar Smyth, swears by the place. “They make the best,” he says.

Denver-based Savory Spice Shop: Doing you a flavor.
Denver-based Savory Spice Shop: Doing you a flavor.

One more night, one more spot: Back in Highland, we had chile-rubbed quail at Colt & Gray – and then closed down the joint with Brian Smith No. 2, the restaurant’s bar manager who scored immediate points by, instead of kicking us out, bringing us a nicely blended Fernet and Campari: A Ferrari.  While his cocktails had made a mighty impression – including the Huge Mistake: W.L. Weller 107 bourbon, lemon, Strega, tiki bitters – it was his accommodating manner and generosity that won us over. The best touch of all: the NFL shirt, once I declared myself a longtime Seattle Seahawks fan, that lay hidden like a speakeasy beneath Brian Smith No. 2’s presentable attire – just one more thing that made me feel at home.

At Colt & Gray, Brian Smith No. 2: Underneath it all, a dude after my own heart.
Colt & Gray’s Brian Smith No. 2: Underneath it all, a 12th Man after my own heart.
Barmoire, Events, Knox-Henderson, Theme parties

Halloween hoedown at Sissy’s: Get your hillbilly on.

Sissy's Southern Kitchen's Halloween Hoedown: You won't say boo.
Sissy’s Southern Kitchen’s Halloween Hoedown: You won’t say boo.

I don’t usually need a good reason to wear gingham and overalls, but now I have one: Sissy’s Southern Kitchen in Knox-Henderson is throwing its second annual Halloween Hoedown, with a $200 prize for best hillbilly-themed costume – possibly enough cash to get that Dodge Charger off the concrete blocks.

Halloween-themed $8 cocktails will abound, incorporating the bar’s heavy hitter spirits – from the Tito’s vodka Slaughtered Mule to the Moet-powered Voodoo Blues. Also, there are now drinks called the Witch Doctor and Zombie Handshake, to which I say: It’s about time.

Arrive in costume and you’ll get a raffle ticket for numerous prizes given throughout the occasion, which runs from 5 pm to midnight with live music from Southern Renaissance. And you can even feel good about the whole thing since 15 percent of the proceeds support Family Gateway, an organization fighting child homelessness.

Interested in staying for dinner? Reservations are recommended. Word is there’ll be fried chicken.

SISSY’S SOUTHERN KITCHEN, 2929 N. Henderson, Dallas. 214-827-9900.