gastown
Shakers & Makers
Gastown bars are at the centre of the global cocktail revival By Robert Mangelsdorf
T
here’s magic in the small ceramic tea cup Bambudda bar manager Buck Friend fills, pouring from a white teapot on high to aerate the golden liquid therein. Of course, this isn’t the usual Chinese restaurant staple he’s preparing. The Tsui Hang “cold tea” cocktail is Friend’s cheeky homage to the infamous late night Granville Street hole-in-the-wall that has been a familiar haunt for the city’s hospitality workers for decades. The concoction of Dark Horse rye infusion, sherry, bitters, oolong tea, and Budweiser reduction is as delicious as it is playful, and that’s the point. “We love to have fun with things,” he says. “Everything doesn’t have to be stirred and shaken.” Friend is one of a handful of skilled gourmet mixologists at the forefront of the local cocktail revival, for which Gastown is ground
zero. In fact, the restaurants and cocktail bars that surround the site of Gassy Jack Deighton’s long-gone Globe Saloon are serving up some of the most progressive and innovative libations being made anywhere, and attracting talent from all over the world. “It’s the reason I came here,” says Friend, who grew up in Australia before moving to Vancouver in 2011 to further his cocktail career. “Vancouver is in easily in the top five in the world for cocktails.” The appeal of the cocktail is simple of course: It’s delicious! It’s fun and versatile, so it can suit any mood, occasion, or food pairing. So what is a cocktail, exactly? Well, anything you want it to be, says Friend. Traditionally a cocktail is defined as a beverage consisting of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. But modern bartenders like Friend have increasingly taken their inspiration from molecular gastronomy, incorporating elements like hibiscus bubbles, sake foam, and homemade infusions into their creations.
Keefer Bar owner Dani Tatarin prepares her signature Laoshi Old Fashioned cocktail. Rob Newell photo “We try to have fun with everything we do,” he says. “But it’s important not to be too self-indulgent.” He’s quick to note that there’s no right or wrong way to make a cocktail, just as there is no right or wrong way to order one. “If a paramedic comes in after his shift and orders a vodka soda, who am I to look down on him?” says Friend. “It’s our job to serve the people, so drink what you want.” Steps away from Gastown is the tiny Keefer Bar, where owner Dani Tatarin has made a name for herself putting unique spins on classic cocktails. Taking its cues from its Chinatown surroundings, the Keefer is decorated to look like a Chinese apothecary. Indeed, some of
the homemade infusions and tinctures use traditional Chinese herbs and ingredients, like cordyceps fungus and even seahorse (yes, SEAHORSE!). Tatarin’s take on the Old Fashioned includes a dollop of traditional Chinese cough syrup, a nod to The Simpson’s Flaming Moe (aka The Flaming Homer). The traditional elements of cocktail making have always intrigued Tatarin, and form the starting point for many of her creations. “There’s flips, fizzes, sours, slings, high balls, punches,” she says. “And if you play with the base spirits, it’s going to taste very different.”
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