FEATURE 23
Chefs behind the bar
The art of seasonal cocktails in Barcelona. Text and photos by Sam Zucker.
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heir names are many: ‘Bar chef ’, ‘Liquid Chef ’, ‘Mixologist’, ‘Cocktail Geek’, ‘Star-tender’ and so on, and while scores of young professionals across the globe have garnered these distinctions as of late, some find these titles to be a bit pretentious. Either way, what all of these movers, shakers and stirrers have in common is that they live behind the bar, and they love it there. It’s not just a place to strive to create the perfect classic Martini or mojito but also to devise drinks that sum up each season of the year, and winter is proving inspirational to these alchemists of alcohol. The creative potential of Barcelona’s own bartender corps is just beginning to blossom. With several hours of detailed, daily prep and an arsenal of tools and gadgets rivaling that of their chef-coated brethren, bartenders here are fast approaching the prestige awarded to their counterparts in craft cocktail meccas such as San Francisco, London, New York, Paris and Tokyo. These are professionals who have dedicated their lives to making unique, balanced, creative drinks behind immaculate bars with house-made infusions, syrups, tinctures and bitters. They use seasonal fruits and juices, along with eclectic amaros and spirits that only the studied truly know how to utilise. Quality is paramount, and even the type of ice used is of the utmost importance. Apprentices and mentors are many, and knowledge flows freely in support of a common goal: evolution.
Quality is paramount, and even the type of ice used is of the utmost importance. With thousands of bars in Barcelona, setting out to find the true, modern cocktail culture of the city is easier said than done. It is championed by a tightly-knit group of young, passionate bartenders who, despite countless hours behind their respective bars, seem to— by all accounts—spend most of their free time on the other side of the counter, watching their compatriots at other locales refine their shared passion. The results are innovative, expressive creations and top-notch, world-class service. How did this revolution begin? I was surprised, when asking Sergio Padilla—bar manager of the grandiose cocktail bar Boca Chica
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(right above ‘big brother’ Boca Grande restaurant)—about drinking trends in Barcelona, as he confided to me that if it had not been for the ‘Gin Tonic’ craze that swept the city a couple of years ago, opening people’s minds to premium drinks, the burgeoning success of the artisanal cocktail in Barcelona would never have come to pass. And yet, it has, and now the bar is learning from the kitchen, and vice versa.
“There have been big changes, huge changes in the cocktail culture of Barcelona since I arrived seven years ago,” says Daniel Schober, head bartender at Ocaña, an expansive institution on the corner of Plaça Reial that houses a cafe, restaurant, terrace, nightclub and a high-end cocktail bar called Apotheke (‘Chemist’s’ in German). “With Barcelona’s reputation for night life, bars began to realise several years ago that they had to live up to the European standards [for cocktails],” he adds. Schober agrees that Barcelona’s current cocktail culture owes nearly everything to the rise of the ‘Gin Tonic’; but ask him about all the bells and whistles that some Barcelona bartenders go through in making them and he tells you it’s all for show. “The fact is, pouring tonic down a bar spoon causes a 14 percent faster loss of carbonation. The spoon is pointless. All I want is a tall glass, very cold ice, 50ml of dry Bombay or Plymouth gin, no garnish, and a bottle of Schweppes tonic on the side. I’ll pour the three-quarters of the bottle myself. That’s it.” Having taken inspiration from Australian Fraser Campbell’s Alchemist Bar in Melbourne, Schober is launching a “periodic table of flavours” format for Apotheke’s winter cocktail list. The ‘chart’ will feature some 30 cocktails including one that nostalgically evokes a spiced apple strudel pastry (from Schober’s native Austria), with
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12/19/13 1:51:22 PM