Thursday, September 24, 2009

Der Raum

Trying to paint the town red again.

This time, we headed down to 2008 Bar of the Year- Der Raum at Church St. This unpretentious little cocktail joint is not your everyday cocktail lounge. The bartenders there are not only cute, but they are apt at finding you the right cooktail, as well as making cocktail blending look like such an amazing craft!

After mulling through the cocktail list for a good 10 mins, I was lured into ordering a Lemon Buttered Rum, just because it's got lemon butter, and maple syrup! The man ordered a a chocolate cocktail- a mixture of chocolate and yellow chartreuse (spice-like liquor) and frozen using liquid nitrogen into an ice-cream texture in 1 minute flat. It was fascinating to watch, very much like Macbeth and the witches cauldron bubbling with smoke as the bartender mix the ingredients up with his long metal spoon. I'm glad I got the bar seat, because the fun is really in the watching. The presentation of the drinks was creative and nothing short of a high ball glass.


Of course, did I already mention the cute bartenders? They are real friendly, and not the stuck-up sorts you see in most bars. The guy who who made my drink made it a point to chat with us, not in a patronising sort of way, but trying to suss out what sort of flavours we like so that he can make our drinking experience more satisfying.
The man was probably more delighted to meet Masterchef finalist Linda Kowalski. I thought she was quite nice when we were talking about her food escapades in Italy. Of course, I did not realise who she is as I am ridiculously bad at recognising faces. I can have Matt Preston sit next to me and I'll be asking him what he does for a living.



The bartender trying to mix the chocolate cocktail with liquid nitrogen