Bar Chef? What the hell is a Bar Chef? We’ve got our bartenders and we’ve dealt with mixologists… but Bar Chef? Well, like it or not, the almighty breed is coming to a bar near you. Toronto hasn’t seen the trend to hit our shores yet, but it’s on its way. Fast.

Originating in London, England, at places like Lab and Duke’s Bar, it’s really just bringing the art of tending bar back to its roots, when barkeeps would create their own bitters mix, use only fresh ingredients, and carve ice off of a giant block.

But with the onslaught of Chefs being enamored like rockstars (albeit working every single day like they were on a world tour), perhaps it was inevitable that bartenders would get their fair share of praise.

Of course, New York City was the next to jump on the bandwagon: establishments like the Milk & Honey or the Pegu Club in Soho, which even has drinks ‘seasonings’ on the tables - droppers of house made bitters, lemon, lime & simple syrup for those to adjust the flavour to their liking.

However, mixology isn't necessarily a reservoir of deep meaning - it's more like a puddle that invites us to splash around. Only when we're wet and enjoying ourselves are we told it's a $30.00 puddle. Up here in The Great White North, Vancouver seems to be the first to launch such an adventurous venture with George in Yaletown. Called Ultra Lounge where handsome young things whip up your beverage from an extensive menu of classics.

To be a bar chef one needs to know more than how to pour a proper Guinness, or mix a decent Manhattan. One must have a chef’s creativity and palate for combining flavours and balancing sweet, sour and bitter. Bar chefs need to have fun with the conventions of the genre by simultaneously embracing ingredients and getting to know them. Despite all of the mixology, however, it's not a full-fledged mania.

Bar Chefs are going beyond just mixology, they are writing books, hosting lectures and teaching classes. If I was to open another bar it would definitely be in this vein.
Behind the bar there would be equipment like a toaster oven for creating garnishes, liquid nitrogen for creating ‘frozen’ flavour pockets, fresh herbs galore, and exotic fruits for you to choose your own for blending.

One should never create anything he doesn't truly love, and you can sense Bar Chefs’ love for the cocktail. The term bar chef seems a tad pretentious, however, but if there is talent involved and one treats the creation as art – an art that we can actually frink - then all the power to them.

I’ll drink to that! - B.S