What's cooking … behind the bar: "bar chefs" are taking creativity to new heights, putting some in a class by themselves

Cheers, Oct, 2003 by Michael Sherer

Anyone who can draw a beer and pour a shot can be a bartender, right? That's what the uninformed may say, but tending bar requires more skills--physical, mental and psychological--than tipping a bottle over a glass. Bartenders with the physical dexterity to flip bottles and pour an exact shot from three feet over the glass, those flair stylists, attract a certain following. Then there are those personable types who can chat it up with customers in the middle of a rush while mixing complicated cocktails from memory without skipping a beat who have earned the slightly more exalted title, mixologist.

But what about the folks who come up with the latest drink creations, start the newest cocktail craze or just take cocktail creativity to a higher level? What do you call a guy like James Moreland, who came up with a concoction of gin, home-made peach and orange bitters and gum tree syrup called the Hairy Canary when he was with Town Bar in New York? Or Arturo Sighinolfi, who makes an Asian Pear Martini for Metro Kitchen and Bar in Miami Beach using vodka, pear brandy and pureed fresh peaches? Or T.J., the bartender at Dragonfly Mandarin restaurant in Chicago, who combines fresh coconut and pineapple puree, two kinds of rum, corn syrup and tapioca balls and calls it the Pina Colada Bubble Drink?

BAR CHEFS?

Some people are calling them "bar chefs," and they are injecting a lot of creativity and excitement into their jobs and the industry. What exactly is a bar chef, though? How does one go from being a bartender to a mixologist to a bar chef?

"It's interesting to see this terminology being applied to our profession," said Tony Abou-Ganim, master mixologist at the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas. "I don't see the difference between a chef and a great bartender--except maybe $60,000 a year."

It's only been in the past 20 years that chefs have become stars in their own right. Before the rise of household names like Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse, chefs were relatively unknown. Restaurants were known for their food, not their chefs.

The cocktail craze of the past few years might be likened to the pre-celebrity chef days of "nouvelle cuisine." Customers are so interested in experimenting and trying new flavors that bartenders are constantly throwing new things at the wall to see what sticks. Like nouvelle cuisine, however, only some of these new ideas catch on with customers. Creativity isn't the only characteristic that turns a bartender into a bar chef.

"Some people think just because some bartender has gone to Chinatown to find an exotic ingredient to put in a drink that makes him a bar chef," said Audrey Saunders, mixologist at Bemelman's Bar in the Hotel Carlyle, New York. "I think finding a bartender knowledgeable enough to tell you the difference between the bourbons the bar stocks is pretty good."

DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS

Few of the people now being referred to as bar chefs, in fact, call themselves that. They appreciate and understand the similarities, though, and share a common philosophy.

Most importantly, they believe in using the best ingredients available. Just as a good chef starts with fresh, high quality ingredients, a great bartender starts with great products. "The most important thing is to produce a drink that tastes good," said Payman Khania, senior manager at Bistro 110 in Chicago, which means starting with quality products. "Then you want to try to make a drink that looks good, that stands out."

"That's been the basis of our philosophy at Bellagio since the beginning," Abou-Ganim said. "Why not put the same care and attention into the bar as you would food? That's why we use quality spirits, fresh juices, fresh fruit purees, well-cut garnishes and great glassware. It's easier to craft good tasting drinks from quality ingredients. What's the point of using a 100-percent blue agave tequila in a Margarita if you're going to mask the flavor with an imitation-flavored sweet-and-sour mix?"

Having the right ingredients on hand takes a conmitment from managers and owners. The Bellagio, for example, stocks a number of ingredients that many bars don't have, such as white peach puree, mango puree, and three kinds of bitters.

More bars recognize the need to have products like these on hand. In some cases, they're difficult to find, particularly when creative bartenders go out of their way to find the unusual.

SEARCHING FOR THE BEST

"When I discover new products or ingredients, I like to use them and try them in new drinks," said Marco Dionysos, beverage specialist at Harry Denton's Starlight Room, San Francisco. "More obscure ingredients can be difficult to get. An orange bitters I like is only made by one company in Rochester, N.Y., which doesn't have distribution out here."

Abou-Ganim finally found an apple liqueur from Spain he liked that he wanted to use in several cocktails. Then he had to find a way to get it into his distributor's warehouse.

Sometimes unusual or exotic ingredients can be found in local markets in large cities like Chicago or San Francisco. The Internet also is a good way to source products that aren't readily available. When Bistro 110 ran a spring promotion called "April Showers Bring May Flowers," Khania wanted to feature a special Martini for the occasion. He worked with the chef who found a boutique florist in Louisiana who produces edible flowers. The flowers ended up in both items on the food menu and the Le Fleur de Mai Martini.