New York

Over the past few years, I've developed an unhealthy obsession with the New York bar-scene. There are three men I hold solely responsible for this affliction which has influenced my thoughts, actions and expectations - Sam Kershaw, Graeme Jamieson & Guiseppe Gonzalez.

When Sam returned from his stint in NYC, he eventually took up residence full time behind the stick at Rick's, it was then that bug was planted beneath my skin that would grow to eventually overtake my entire being. Sam would tell me all about the drinks, the bars, the bartenders and everything they did over there. It was so authentic, vintage and unique that at first I had some slight apprehension toward. I never thought that two years later I would be implementing the techniques and style into a bar I would end up setting up in my home town of Glasgow. Slowly, Sam's influence on the bar at Rick's increased to the point that we had two freezers on the bar and we were freezing and moulding blocks and changing our glassware. When I got the chance to visit NYC, albeit briefly, I hooked up with Jamieson on what was supposed to be a tour of New York cocktail bars, that didn't happen, and for that, Guissepe is to blame.
Our first port of call was Clover Club in Brooklyn, where Guissepe was working. As soon as we sat down, I didn't want to leave, he is quite honestly the best bartender I have ever come across, and his service blew me away. In fact, everything about Clover that night pretty much changed my thinking on bars, the music, the atmosphere, the punters, the lighting, the bartenders and the drinks, everything was nailed like Ive never seen a bar do before. I refused to go anywhere else that night, and Graeme practically had to drag me to M&H ( I was pretty wasted though after Joe's cocktail marathon ).
As soon as I got back to Edinburgh, I understood everything Sammy had been talking about. Ive been in a lot of world famous cocktail bars around the globe, but nowhere came anywhere close to the all-round experience I had that evening, and Fredo Ceraso & Richie Boccato were absolute gents that evening also.
New York, which used to be the other side of the world, now feels like my door-step. It doesn't feel a million miles away anymore, and I think The Connoisseurs Club has had a huge part in that, and bringing together a more global bar scene in total, actually.
Until the Connoisseurs Club started bringing guys like De Groff, Wondrich, Petraske, et all across the pond for seminars, the influence, connection and relationship with the NY scene was quite distant. Now bartenders from Japan are visiting more and we are more aware of their techniques and style. Sean Muldoon was telling me recently how he found himself in a random cocktail bar in Japan, and bumped into Bramble's Ryan Cheti !!!
It truly is becoming a global community which is amazing for the industry. I guess facebook has helped this to no end also !
So....this obsession then, expect to see it written all over the new cocktail list, in the techniques and style of our drinks, and in the hearts & minds of my bar-team that I have passed this obsession onto.
Blythswood Square Hotel looks like a hotel from the golden era of Manhattan, and if I've done my job right, hopefully the cocktails make it taste like it too.