Spring sings

Seasonally-inspired cocktails at Chambar

Running the ever-busy bar at Chambar isn’t an easy job, but it’s one that bar manager Yacine Sylla and team embrace with enthusiasm. Constantly re-inventing the menu and updating old favourites, Sylla aligns himself with the restaurant’s focus on local, seasonal and high-quality ingredients.

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Mad Laboratory Distilling

Truly handmade using a small homebrew mill and a pump, Mad Laboratory’s vodka is triple distilled and carbon filtered from Armstrong barley and Champagne yeast.

119-618 East Kent Ave., Vancouver
madlabdistilling.com


PRODUCTS:

• ULKERaki
• Mad Lab Vodka
• Viking Vodka
• Mad Lab Gin6
• Mad Dog Single Malt White Spirit
• Chocolate Spiced Mad Dog Single Malt
• Kombucha Cordials
• Pre-mixed cocktails


TASTING NOTES:


Mad Lab Vodka

FRAGRANCE: Clean, light fragrance of sweet wheat, vanilla, and hints of doughy bread.
FLAVOUR: Very smooth, lightly sweet with notes of black pepper, hint of vanilla.
FEEL: Silky and dry.
FINISH: Super clean, lightly creamy.
BEST ENJOYED: Stirred, straight up with a twist.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Brand new distillery, only the 4th batch made; Mad Lab nailed it. —Wendy McGuinness, July 2016


Mad Lab Gin

FRAGRANCE: Sweet and fruity.
FLAVOUR: Clean and citrusy.
FEEL: Tickling mouth-feel.
FINISH: Spicy, biting.
BEST ENJOYED: In a White Lady (gin, Cointreau, lemon).
THE BOTTOM LINE: A six-botanical cucumber gin that is delicate and nuanced. Very clean tasting. —Robyn Gray, February 2017


Mad Dog Single Malt White Spirit

FRAGRANCE: A brewery in the morning. Lovely. 
FLAVOUR: Toasted pumpernickel bread. 
FEEL: Punchy, then round. 
FINISH: Honey. Long and sweet.
BEST ENJOYED: As a sour. Heavy on the angostura, or even with 10 ml of amaro. 
THE BOTTOM LINE: Not sure about the white whisky trend, but this is a good indicator of the aged spirit Mad Dog will produce. —Josh Pape, October 2017


The heat is on

Cool treats for the summer season

Put a scoop in it: Bella Gelateria mixes their award-winning gelato with classic and new cocktails. Supplied photo

The sun’s out, you’re feeling mellow. What better way to cool down without taking the chill off, than by enjoying a sweet, boozy treat?

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Tropical thunder

Kristi-Leigh Akister expands The Union’s bold, exotic repertoire

In Vancouver, you’re more likely to inherit an incredible cocktail program and back bar these days than have to build one from scratch. That said, there’s always room to improve.

Take Union bar manager Kristi-Leigh Akister. The vibrant young bartender stepped into the role established by Cascade bar manager Nick Devine and 17-year industry veteran Arthur Wynne just over a year ago, and has since established an innovative new cocktail menu and rotating draft list to pair with the restaurant’s Pan-Asian bibimbaps and bahn mis.

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Ginapalooza 2016

The second annual Canadian celebration of all things gin, Ginapalooza, hit bars across Vancouver in June, with a public vote on the best bespoke beverages served. 

Tearing up the city’s cocktail scene right now, Royal Dinette’s Kaitlyn Stewart took first place with Rock, which included lavender honey mead and Concord grape vinegar.

Tied for the runner-up spot was Justin Taylor’s Cascade Room entry, Bear Essentials.

The other runner-up was Yew Restaurant’s Firefighter, created by Phil Srigley.

Shaun Layton’s craft Juniper G&T came in third.

Love on the rocks

Can creative cocktails compete with wine for a place at the dinner table?

Maenam’s play on a sidecar, the Rusty Bumper, infuses salted plum and cumin and pairs well with several dishes, including an eight-spice ling cod and Yum Plah salmon salad. Alexa Mazzarello photo

The relationship between cocktails and food lacks commitment in many people’s minds. Sure, a good Martini with a plate of freshly shucked oysters is a sexy start to any date, but is it the basis for a long-term love affair?

Spirit-based drinks have more success at the brunch or lunch table, either adding a bit of fizz to eggs Benedict, or providing a restorative hair-of-the-dog to the morning after the night before. The Mad Men-style three-Martini “business meeting” of old fashioned expense accounts has largely become a thing of nostalgia, and few ladies who lunch appear to have the same determination to drink as heartily as did their predecessors.

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Dream team

Sabrine Dhaliwal takes over the guest experience at UVA

Sabrine Dhaliwal didn’t have to join UVA Wine & Cocktail Bar—with her bartending pedigree she would have had her choice of bar manager positions in this town. So why sign on to run the room that had, to date, been defined by Vancouver’s cocktail queen Lauren Mote?

“Why not?” Dhaliwal counters, with a playful smile. “I’ve known Lauren for about five years, so I’ve been fortunate enough to see how she built her cocktails and what avenues she goes in. I’m fortunate in that way to have an insight into that realm.”

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Back to the future

Glamour is back on the menu at Notch8 Restaurant & Bar

Bartender Philippe Grandbois.

Glamour is in the Hotel Vancouver’s bones. From its early years as the jewel of Canadian Pacific’s hotel empire, to its current position as one of the Fairmont’s luxury destinations, the iconic Vancouver hotel understands what it is that makes customers feel special.

And that commitment to customer service has recently been boosted once again, with the arrival of Philippe Grandbois as General Manager of the hotel’s swish Notch8 Restaurant & Bar.

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The Cocktail Concierge

Justin Taylor has created a series of drinks designed to celebrate Vancouver

Lou Lou Childs photo.

For bar manager Justin Taylor, a cocktail list should be, “fun, approachable, and unpretentious.”

After seven years at Yew Restaurant in the Four Seasons, Taylor took a short hop across town to take charge of the bar at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in the Sutton Place Hotel—jumping at the chance to build a drinks program from the ground up.

Putting together his signature list, Taylor decided to tell the story of Vancouver through cocktails: from the Lost Lagoon to the Van Dusen Sour, his creations are designed to take his customers on a journey.

“I’m like another concierge in the hotel,” he smiles. “And the conversation around the bar becomes organic. It’s a great way to introduce guests to what the city has to offer, and hopefully entice them to try something new. ”

For him, a new cocktail begins with a good name: “It’s always the name first—does it make sense? Then I hit on the spirit, and from there I build the rest of the components.”

He’s most proud of the Gerard—named after the Sutton Place’s iconic bar—called one of the 101 best new cocktails by world-renowned authority, Gary Regan. With an Islay Scotch base, the Gerard also boasts maraschino liqueur, Fernet-Branca and cherry bitters.

“It was challenging to build,” Taylor admits. “It’s hard to mix Islay whisky because the smokiness is so deep and strong.”

They may offer a way in to the city’s streets, but these are hardly pedestrian drinks: the Chief Skugaid—named for an infamous rum ship that ran out of Vancouver—utilizes forest tea tincture and chai and lavender-infused maple syrup; the savoury Chinook features dill, celery bitters and a toasted caper garnish.

Taylor’s dream is to take his list on the road.

“Imagine if we rented a trolley bus and mixed and served the cocktails as we hit each destination,” he grins. “Now, that would be cool.”


THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY:
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar
845 Burrard Street, Vancouver • 604-642.2900
BoulevardVancouver.ca

Room at the top

Bar manager Peter Van de Reep seeks out spirits that are a cut above

“Upstairs” at Campagnolo bar manager Peter Van de Reep. Lou Lou Childs photo.

At “Upstairs” at Campagnolo, the intimate restaurant and bar above Campagnolo’s Main Street location, you don’t have to reach for the top shelf to find a choice selection of spirits.

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