opinionated alchemist

Today was my last day at the Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi and at Skylite. I am a biylt.melacholic... but it is the right time and the right.thing to leave... While I created the beverage menus and and did a lit of training, I focussed here more on the business aspect. Very successful indeed - however this is just not my passion about. I am leaving, because I have to do again crazy stuff behind the bar. Lets hope my new job will make this possible.

I am just sitting at 6 in the morning to write a couple of posts, because I have a bad conscience, as there were rare posts the last couple of days and weeks. Why? Abu Dhabi featured these days the F1 racing circus. The Yas Viceroy hotel [where I am working] is just in the middle of the track - it is kinda state of emergency here. In Skylite - our rooftop bar we are featuring 2 bands - the crazy guys of Go Go Gadget and [the not less nutty] Eddie Jordan and the Robbers. Just made a video of the soundcheck today. Enjoy...

It is not the overall beverages but the constant innovation and adaptability, which makes the job not only interesting, but also is the biggest challenge... In Skylite we have introduced a completely new beverage list and a completely new food menu. Obviously I was heavily involved in both - now we are in the soft [re]opening stage and most products are available already - we are just waiting for some of the tougher things to get [cinchona bark and a carbonation unit somebody?]. I am pretty happy for the moment with the hard work of the bartenders in Skylite. They do a tremendous job and the drinks are better than I expected them to be. It definitely will be posted on the blog, why I selected respective drinks, why this food menu [which will be 100% finger food] and so on. For the moment I am struggling with my time management, so I am sure, that you forgive me, to postpone it to a better timing... Lets have a look on the drinks: Tweaked Classics Cilantro Jalapeño »To...

Picture in courtesy of http://theyounggentlemensguide.com Yes - I know, posts were scarce last couple of weeks.  The opening of Skylite crawls closer and closer and there is so much to consider and to plan for. The content of the new beverage menu of Skylite is in the late development stage, but then there are also so many further details like promotions, the opening night, manning, the food concept and so on. The Rush menu, I have posted here, is close to implementation and we have tried most drinks. The Butter-Popcorn Sour was though one of the drinks, which I have delayed, due to a busy schedule. However I did some popcorn myself at home a couple of days ago [only for this recipe - I usually despise popcorn] - it is a bit easier in my home kitchen to cook things up... Then we infused a bottle of Maker's Mark with it. Why Maker's Mark you might ask? Well, Maker's is a rather light [wheated] bourbon - though still has a formidable 45% abv. After one day, the p...

Continuing the series with the new concepted drinks and cocktails for Rush bar - here are the next contender: Lemon Thyme Mule Basically a Moscow Mule with lemon thyme infused vodka; no big surprises here - it features here just a bit more flavour and complexity than the original with neutral vodka. Roselle Paloma One of my all time favourite drinks is the Paloma - basically tequila with grapefruit soda. Here we are using dried hibiscus husks, to flavour the tequila [and it will have a beautiful ruby hue as well]. The grapefruit soda is house made and is only made with grapefruit zest [no juice], sugar and citric acid. Why citric acid?  Well, read my post about sodas ! And off course we will also add a bit fresh lime. Simple, delicious and complex! Rush Spritz The Spritz al Bitter [or often just shortly called spritz] is an aperitif, which became more and more popular among "hipsters". No surprise, that in the UAE it was largely unrecognised! We want to change thi...

It is Ramadan and everything [especially business] slows a little bit down. However it gives me the opportunity to get ready for my new assignment: Skylite. Skylite is a rooftop bar - and I would say, that it is by default one of the most exciting al fresco bars in the country. An illuminated grid-shell is spanning all over the hotel; colors changing slowly... and in Skylite you are sitting directly under these shells. Besides of the occasionally landing airplanes [which are awesome if you are interested in aviation - I haven't seen often a flying airplane closer] - which can be a bit noisy, this place rocks. For this venue, I am for the moment bringing F&B together - to have a really exciting offer for the new season. For the snacks, I thought about great custom-tailored finger food. Should ge tasty, accessible, inexpensive, trendy and just fun. The beverage concept is much more difficult. Problem is, that it is hard for me to departure my typical high-brow cocktail...

I am still [since 7 years now] confused, that there is not one classic bar in the UAE. A bar like Milk & Honey or Pegu Club or Le Lion. There are fancy places - and lobby bars - but not a really good, solid classic American bar. And I guess, the guys who are the main promoters of restaurants and bars: TimeOut is just promoting this lack of drinking culture - just see the snippet, I have "cut out" of the TimeOut webpage - it is a poll: I think, this says all! A poll about nightlife venues, and they don't even include a proper bar! Please - let me know, if you are as "disgusted" as I am.

It is a challenge and I've only mastered this question after a long time: How to prepare mint. If you make it properly, you will have fresh and healthy looking sprigs for several days - or even a week! Really lucky bartenders are having a garden with lots of mint shrubs - however even they might have problems in the winter... And we are not yet in a position, that we can tell guests, that they cannot have Mojitos, Juleps and other minty drinks, because mint is out of season! Here in the Middle East, it is even more difficult to get healthy mint;  in culinary [especially MESA cuisine] a lot of mint is used, but almost everything is processed (at least shredded) so you can [fortunately] not even imagine, how the mint looked before! Long story short - here I am with a step by step explanation to get fantastic looking mint for at least a week!!! 1. This is the mint we get from the cold kitchen. I have to be honest, that this mint looks quite healthy, if you c...

I haven't wrote much about my job lately. Let me now announce officially: I moved from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, to work in the really cool designed Yas Viceroy Hotel. Yeah - it is the hotel in Abu Dhabi built over the Formula 1 race course Marina Circuit. I am bar manager [which pretty much gets the best out of me] and I am looking forward to share with you new drinks, which we will create here. Stay already tuned - I am waiting for new equipment and new products - but we will do some mixology,  unparalleled in the region. Looking forward to write a lot about the journey, which just has begun.