If we all know something about Director of Bars at Caprice Holdings, Xavier Landais, and his considering behind a brand new Horny Fish menu, it’s that he and his crew by no means do something by halves. Final 12 months they revealed it to nice aplomb in six cities throughout six continents on sooner or later for goodness sakes.
It was a feat even Landais concluded almost broke him. “Logistics, time zones, the planning – it was insane. I used to be having conferences with Sydney at midnight and Seoul at 6am and doing every thing else in between. The entire thing was off the charts however we did it and it was the proudest day of my profession. However like I advised you final time, I might by no means do something like that once more. That’s why we’re going to do the precise reverse. As an alternative of launching in six cities we’re launching in a single.”
Sounds easy sufficient however in true Landais kind, there’s extra to it than that…
So what’s the story?
In a nutshell, we’re stripping every thing again. However we’re going to launch the brand new menu in Rome in the course of the Roma Bar Present.
In fact you’re! However why?
So far as we all know, no one has ever launched their new menu throughout a bar present earlier than – if they’ve, it definitely hasn’t been a menu in its entirety. So we’re flying over our groups from Miami, Manchester, and London to Drink Kong in Rome for the launch on the primary day of the bar present on thirteenth Might, which occurs to be World Cocktail Day. We’ll be taking up the whole venue.
Okay, that sounds extra just like the Horny Fish craziness that we’ve come to know and love. Inform us extra.
We’re flying 9 bartenders over to launch the complete menu, so from that side, it’s just like final 12 months as we’re not simply doing a visitor shift or a small takeover with 4 or 5 drinks. We’re launching the brand new menu in its entirety.
That’s no imply feat. So out of your learnings final 12 months, how do you propose to sort out issues this time spherical?
We’ll be sending one among our lab guys over to Rome together with one other bartender 4 or 5 days earlier than. They’ll be based mostly within the Drink Kong Lab to allow them to begin the prep. The bartenders from Miami might be touchdown on the Saturday earlier than the occasion, to allow them to relaxation and never be too jet lagged, prepared for the menu launch on Monday. Then the groups from Manchester and London might be arriving on Sunday, able to go the subsequent day.
Received it! So inform us concerning the menu?
The brand new menu is the final in our Trilogy of menus, all based mostly on flavour however naming the cocktails barely in another way annually. So two years in the past we launched ‘Synergy’ which was two flavours, final 12 months we launched ‘Trinity’ was about flavour, textures and aromas and this 12 months we’re launching ‘Unity’ which can deal with one flavour.
Develop please?
Unity means quite a lot of issues. It signifies the unity between all the Horny Fish venues all over the world however it’s additionally about inclusivity, about uniting all people. Which incorporates our crew but additionally our friends. With that in thoughts, we’ve created a menu which has the identical variety of alcoholic cocktails as non alcoholic and low abv cocktails – all with the identical flavour profile. So there are 24 cocktails general, however solely 12 flavours, in order that’s 12 alcoholic and 12 non-alcoholic/low abv cocktails.
The best way they’re offered is equally vital so we now have two menus in a single. On one facet we now have the alcoholic drinks, then it is advisable flip it over and also you’re offered with a unique cowl with all of the non-alcoholic and low abv decisions. We spend the identical period of time on every of the menus, a few of the glassware differs between the non-alc and alcoholic drinks, however aside from that, every thing is just about the identical.
Give us an instance of a few of the flavours and the way they differ from non-alc or low abv to full alc?
We’ve a collection of flavours, some fruity like Strawberry, Orange, Fig and Watermelon, others like Cacoa, Sugar Snap Pea, Espresso and Honey. The alcoholic model of the Sugar Snap Pea drink as an illustration, consists of Beefeater London Dry Gin, sugar snap pea distillate, manzanilla sherry, absinthe, apple and lemonade; whereas its non-alcoholic different is Seedlip Backyard 108, Sugar Snap Pea distillate, pear, jasmine, verjus and CO2.
How did you compose this menu this time?
We despatched our international head bartender, James Hawkins to Manchester and Miami, to analysis what the groups have been doing by way of creating cocktails. As soon as he’d executed that, we flew over the pinnacle bartenders from Miami and Manchester to London, to have a full R&D/testing with myself and Jerome Allaguillemette, our head of bars.
All people had an opportunity to be a part of it. Every of the Horny Fish venues have roughly the identical quantity of cocktails on the menu. Collectively, we agreed on which cocktails have been going to make the record.
Was {that a} very concerted factor to ensure that all people had an equal illustration?
Form of however it’s additionally price mentioning that on every menu there are three cocktails that are solely out there in every Horny Fish. So Miami has three cocktails that are solely out there in Miami. Similar for Manchester and London. The rationale for that’s purely so we will have an providing which was actually bespoke to the market.
Inform us about Drink Kong and the choice to launch the menu in the course of the Roma Bar Present? This isn’t the one bar present on this planet, so why this explicit one?
That’s a very good query, and the reply is, we wished to do a bar present which was this facet of July. So there’s Brooklyn and Mexico, however they have been sort of restricted. We additionally had Phoenix, however that’s too early. Rome hit the spot properly by way of timing and logistics..
Concerning the venue, it needed to be a sure measurement and move. We couldn’t do it in a bar that’s too small or a venue with just one bar – a bar that perhaps wouldn’t have the ability to ship what we need to ship; we’re anticipating round a thousand individuals. So the record of bars that would accommodate our wants was really fairly small.
I went to Drink Kong final 12 months and I assumed the scale of it, the variety of bars they’ve of their venue and the extent they’re at was excellent. Wherever you’re within the house, you’ll have the ability to entry the entire menu. And just a bit heads-up: there’s going to be just a little shock within the personal eating room!
And the way has it labored by way of logistics with the crew over there?
We began on the logistics about three months in the past. The principle problem has been substances, not each ingredient or spirit is accessible in Rome. So, we’ll both be transport issues over or carrying stuff over in our suitcases as we at all times do. There are sufficient of us going, all of us take two suitcases and we’re going at completely different instances so it received’t be an issue. I’ll be flying over final, so if something is lacking, I’ll be the one bringing it.
Are you excited?
Completely! The massive factor for us this 12 months is that we’re going to have all the Horny Fish bartenders from our completely different cities working collectively for the primary time. Final 12 months we despatched the London crew to Seoul and Sydney, and despatched the Miami crew to Cartagena, so despite the fact that we have been in all places, we weren’t collectively.
This time, what’s superb is that we’ll have bartenders who work the identical method, making the identical drinks behind the identical stations working collectively, however they don’t know one another. I can’t wait to see them working collectively.
How do you resolve how that works?
Normally what we do is put all of the names of all of the groups in entrance of us. After which we now have the structure of Drink Kong. We all know what number of bartenders we’d like behind every of the bars and have an concept of who can work collectively. I imply, they will all work collectively however we now have to have a stability – of ranges and in addition gender, we attempt to be as truthful as potential. However on the similar time, we will’t ship all of our greatest bartenders as a result of we nonetheless have eating places to run, so the stability is normally very troublesome to attain.
The massive query is, why do you place your self by way of this?
It’s an excellent alternative for our groups. That’s the primary cause why I do it, it’s about employees retention – providing one thing to the bartenders who don’t normally get the chance to journey. Some do within the huge bars, everyone knows that. However that’s solely a tiny % of bartenders. Significantly with regards to our crew in Miami. The journey is one thing that individuals don’t do an excessive amount of in America and that’s purely due to the tip system in America. When you ship any person someplace, then they don’t make ideas. So the truth that we will supply that for our Miami crew is unbelievable for them.
Cool. So the launch date is thirteenth Might in Rome, when does it drop in your bars?
We’ll be launching it to the general public in all Horny Fish venues on the seventeenth Might and we will’t wait for everybody to attempt it.
