At the hottest restaurants, cocktails are as sophisticated as the food. Bartenders are playing with liquid nitrogen, concocting infusions, and changing the way we drink. It’s the most exciting gastronomic development in years
Smoke and firewater: Barchef, on Queen West, serves a $45 haute manhattan, a mix of whisky, vanilla cognac and bitters that arrives in a bell jar filled with hickory smoke (Image: Finn O'Hara)
There are only two kinds of cocktails—those that are dead and those that are alive—and the only way to tell them apart is to taste them. A dead drink is at best two-dimensional, merely a mixture of liquids; a living cocktail is full of motion as its flavours unfold on the palate. It’s like the difference between a paint-by-numbers canvas and a true work of art. And in this city, the dead outnumber the living by about a thousand to one.
But not for long, thanks to a handful of determined pioneers. Frankie Solarik at Barchef, Moses McIntee at Ame, Jen Agg at the Black Hoof and Bill Sweete at Sidecar make up the new avant-garde, along with Christine Sismondo, the author of the influential book Mondo Cocktail, who is opening her own place on College Street in July, wryly called the Toronto Temperance Society. Each one has a different view of what constitutes a great cocktail, but they all share a single belief: it’s high time the age of the crantini was over.
The most extreme place to observe this revolution is Barchef, the dimly lit temple of mixology on Queen West where Frankie Solarik is the celebrant. Tall, slim and bearded, wearing a black porkpie hat, he works behind a bar crowded with more than 30 spiced infusions and subtle elixirs in various flasks and jars. I’ve never seen such a set-up—like an alchemist’s laboratory, complete with the molecular foams, flavoured airs and gelatinous transubstantiations that are Solarik’s specialty. His masterpiece is a smoked vanilla manhattan, a $45 cocktail set in a bell jar filled with hickory smoke until it smells like a campfire and tastes like heaven.
Solarik got his start at the age of 17 working in a cigar bar in London, Ontario, listening to gentlemen discuss the relative merits of different tobaccos, cognacs and single malts. He learned high-volume bartending in England in the 1990s and then refined his technique at Tocqueville in Manhattan. He really began to explore the possibilities of his profession when he returned to Toronto in 2001 and found work at Rain, Luce and finally Kultura. “That’s where I began doing this kind of mise en place,” he says, glancing down at the potions on the bar. “As an artist, I need to work among my colours, if you see what I mean.”
Barchef’s small but devoted congregation includes superstar chefs Susur Lee, Guy Rubino, Claudio Aprile and Grant Achatz of Alinea in Chicago. Tonight, however, Solarik is freestyling for me, improvising a cocktail to suit the mood and the moment. He finds inspiration in unusual places—the sound of a muted trumpet on Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain and the scent of his infant son’s cucumber-and-melon bath soap. I just want something to match the charcuterie and cheeses on the bar’s minimal menu. He begins by rinsing a glass with green Chartreuse before taking an ice pick to the massive translucent block of ice on the bar, chopping out chunks for the shaker. Then he reaches for his orange-infused New Amsterdam gin, his house-made coconut bitters, the apricot bitters, a trace of fennel syrup and a dash of Amaro Lucano. Shake and strain. The amber drink shimmers in the glow of the candles. I catch the aromas of orange and spice as the cold, heavy spirits hit my tongue in a swirl of rich, bittersweet flavours—it’s like drinking polarized light. And it’s great with the cheese.
Hmmm…Bar-chefs? What’s next, Food-tenders? I’m sure the $45 beverage is very good, but can people please stop abusing the terms “Manhattan” and “Martini”? Last time I checked there was no vanilla cognac in a Manhattan. If you’re so creative think up your own names for these cocktails.
May 3, 2010 at 3:21 pm | by MattagascarMattagascar, jealousy is a useless emotion. They are not abusing the terms Martini and Manhattan, in fact I have met a few of the people mentioned in this article and they have the utmost respect for the cocktail.
May 3, 2010 at 4:05 pm | by TikiAs for the term bar-chef, its been around for awhile now so get used to it because you will probably see it again.
I’m not jealous, and yes “Tiki” some are abusing the terms. When I go into a bar and order a Manhattan I want rye, sweet vermouth, and a dash of bitters shaken with ice and a cute little cherry sunk in the glass. I don’t want to have to explain that to the “bar-chef” either. Is that too much to ask? Is it old fashioned? Yes. Delicious? Damn right. If you want a campfire with it why not call it a “kumbaya” cocktail or something. If you respect something you leave it alone and pay homage to it. I’m sure all these people are talented and their drinks are great but leave the classics alone.
May 3, 2010 at 7:16 pm | by MattagascarWhat about all of the bars that don’t stock bitters because they don’t think it’s necessary in a Manhattan?
Last time I checked, Frankie had called his drink the “Vanilla Hickory Smoked Manhattan” and the only Martini on the menu was his take on it.
No one in this article is taking classic cocktails and passing off their versions as definitive. You can go to any of these bars and either get something off of the drink menu or not. If you have a request, you may or may not have to explain it, just like at any restaurant.
May 4, 2010 at 5:24 am | by JaphetBar-chefs, $45 drinks, creative manhattans, liquid nitrogen – Why does it have to make sense? I love it all!!
May 6, 2010 at 4:53 pm | by CarsonDoes it really matter what title people are giving themselves? Does a mixologist make a better drink than a great bartender? Is is a crime to be creative with the classics?
Lets just be thankful that the passion and creative aspect is there! The opportunity for us to all find that which we appreciate and enjoy is broadened with all the diversity!
Food and drink is such an amazing aspect of our lives, especially when shared with others and allowed to be more than just a meal and beverage.
My best wishes to everyone mentioned and I encourage you to continue in your pursuits.
Great article – thank you!
Hi Frankie, missed to wisit you on the trip West to East.Planning to do that again in June.This time we will try some of the drinks you made so popular.
May 13, 2010 at 3:43 am | by Babi DedaOur best wishes to you..and the boy….I am so proud of you.
How obout to make (create) drink in the name ..memory of your Mom” Nasha Pink Dasa”…Nasha-Bohem-Dasha…
With Love from Okanagan…L I D A …
PS If we all think like Mattagaskar, the light- bulb would not be invented
That’s Mattagascar…with a “c” you idiot. I hope you had a nice “wisit” to Toronto.
May 14, 2010 at 10:48 am | by MattagascarI’m going to try to swing by this place tonight. I applaud anyone that’s trying to raise the bar in this city.
May 15, 2010 at 6:37 pm | by El Mero ChingonMattagascar, chill the f out. you certainly use the words, “respect for the classics” lightly, when you speak of a shaken Manhattan. I’m sure all the bartenders above, along with making fine twists to old classics, can also make you a delicious classic Manhattan…and it most certainly will not be shaken. Because I’m sure they, unlike yourself, actually do hold a Manhattan in high regard. As do I. Cheers to every new cocktail bar in Toronto. We need you desperately.
May 17, 2010 at 3:57 pm | by SandyWhat is the matter with this fool “Mattagascar” people you can do a search on this name and you will see This imbecile is full of negativity and vile. Mattagascar I think you should be ban from this site. You obviously have nothing positive to add to any dicussion. From where I stand you sound Angry, Ignorant and Unemployed. Never a good combination Mattagascar.
May 20, 2010 at 4:42 pm | by Hunter