Bangkok gets a mouthful of SPEAKEASY

THE POPULAR Vesper Cocktail Bar & Restaurant celebrated its first anniversary last week with a two-night party fuelled by great food and drinks created by chef Luca Appino and guest mixologists from New York bar Employees Only.
“This is a very special day for us at Vesper,” Chotipong Leenutaphong, owner of the establishment, told XP.
“In just a single year, we gained the kind of recognition in the area that usually takes years to achieve. With our trusted partner, Diageo, we remain firm in our commitment to deliver the best and the most innovative cocktail making trends to our guests, while also encouraging our bartenders to make a name for themselves in Thailand and abroad.”
For this special occasion Diageo Moet Hennessey (Thailand) invited Igor Hadzismajlovic and Steve Schneider from Employees Only in Manhattan and tasked them not just with crafting world-class cocktails but also bringing New York’s “speakeasy” vibes to the Bangkok scene.
Employees Only was founded in 2004 by five Manhattan bar and restaurant veterans who wanted a place open late into the night for the people in the industry to hang out after work. Employees Only is considered a pioneer of the speakeasy bar movement in New York City and has been serving classic craft cocktails long before it became a trend. Since then the bar has earned many awards including the prestigious Tales of the Cocktail’s Best Cocktail Bar in 2011 and was most recently ranked number five among the world’s 50 Best Bars in 2014.
“Sherry – the Spanish fortified wine – is becoming popular these days in cocktail making, as are bitters. Bartenders are always trying to be innovative, which is really cool, but cocktail trends go worldwide in a second,” said Employee Only’s chief bartender, Steve Schneider, a former US marine who took up bartending after sustaining a serious injury.
“We focus on the products we have in front of us rather than what other people are doing or the latest trends. If a customer asks for a certain flavour or a specific spirit, we will try to make that happen. Quality, simplicity, attention to detail and personalisation is what I think makes for good bartending. Little things, like looking at your customer when you’re shaking a drink, go a long way and it’s something that will never go out of style.”
Schneider and his buddy and mentor, Hadzismajlovic, created some fine drinks to pair with Appino’s four-course dinner. They started with “Ready, Fire, Aim” made with barrel-aged Don Julio Reposado tequila, honey syrup, pineapple and lime juice as well as Habanero bitters that went well with the super sour and tasty black grouper ceviche.
The dinner continued with the “Provencal” – a mix of lavender Tanqueray gin, Herbes de Provence vermouth and Cointreau – which was paired with linguine with lavender, red tuna and lemon zest. The vibrant cocktail helped brighten the dish, amplifying the citrus note and the pasta’s underlying lavender fragrance.
The main course, seared Kurobuta pork with pistachio, came with “Common Sense”, a concoction of Singleton 12 single malt, Bianco vermouth, Averna bitter and chocolate bitter. The sauce, which had a chocolate nuttiness to it, was thoughtfully matched with the slightly malty and bitter drink, making it a very well-rounded, robust combination.
The last course was the simply decadent raspberry and white chocolate tart, which was paired with “Amelia”, a blend of Ketel One vodka with lemon, elderflower liqueur St Germain and blackberry puree. These enhanced the berry flavours in the dessert, and counterbalanced the sweetness of the chocolate with the slight tartness of the lemon.
After this first taste of speakeasy, Bangkok night owls will be thirsting for more Big Apple atmosphere.

Vesper Cocktail Bar & Restaurant |is in Soi Convent off Silom Road. For more information, visit www.VesperBar.co.