Currently I am working with the other chefs @ Fire on revamping our bar. Fire has been open 8 years, and the bar has never fully realized its potential.
We have come up with several new cocktails(12 so far) and I think they are gonna be very, very good. The most exciting part about this process is approaching bartending from a culinary standpoint.
We are making our own bitters. We are making our own fresh syrups, and also making infusions with seasonal ingredients. I think that drink making is an art form.
I am currently reading The Essential Cocktail by Dale Degroff. It's nice to read about bartending from his perspective. He tells a little anecdote about the drinks that he considers "essential" and then proceeds to tell you his version of that cocktail. The recipes are simple, but precise. I think that this is key to having a great bar. I also think that the bartenders need to be extremely passionate about the drinks that they are making.
A lot of our new drinks are derived from old standards and even from some pre-prohibition era cocktails. A version of one of my favorite "old-timey" cocktails, the "block and fall" makes an appearance in a new and refined manner.
We hope to unleash our new concept soon. So, those of you that dine at Fire, be on the lookout for the mysterious jars that begin appearing behind the bar. We might even start seeing zoot suits and flappers again. Who knows?
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