The Death of the Crantini

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The Death of the Crantini

Mix up your stagnant drink list by using fresh ingredients and adding some excitement to your presentation

By Mark Hayes


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A movement is growing by the minute in the Canadian cocktail scene, a renaissance, if you will. A sort of out with the tired and tawdry and in with the new and exciting. The days of the Sex and the City cosmopolitan or the uninspired sour apple martini are giving way to a new breed of cocktails that focus on high quality ingredients and more attention to detail—something that has Master Mixologist Frankie Solarik Crantini very happy.

Solarik is the owner of Barchef Cocktail Bar on Queen Street West in Toronto. If you haven't heard of Barchef yet, chances are you will. Solarik's edgy take on cocktails has put him on the forefront of this renaissance and he has acquired an impressive collection of awards to show for his success, including Food and Drink Magazine's "Top 7 Most Innovative Bars in the World." On any given day, you will find Solarik standing behind his bar with at least 100 little jars and bottles of curiosities.

He's like a pharmacist from the Belle Époque era tinkering with potions and elixirs. Molecular foams, liquid nitrogen, flavoured air and an assortment of house made bitters are just a few of the upscale tools Solarik calls into service to create his masterpieces.

"I make cocktails to give people an experience through texture, flavour and viscosity that they haven't experienced before. I view a cocktail the same way a chef views a dish—and we're even using techniques similar to culinary," Solarik says. "We've got mixers, blowtorches, and a number of kitchen tools to get the job done."

Business is good at Barchef, and even without a patio the place is packed. But you don't need a science degree to find this kind of success; you just need to understand the Canadian market is changing.

Clearly, Solarik gets it, but can fullservice restaurants cater to the haute-cocktail drinkers needs? In short, yes.

Mike Chisholm is The Keg Steakhouse and Bar's operations director and understands market demands are changing. "You don't need blowtorches to give an exciting experience at a chain restaurant," he says. "I wish The Keg could do some of the things Solarik is doing at Barchef, but it's not realistic for a restaurant with our kind of volume."

At The Keg they focus on simple and fast ways to add pizzazz to the guest experience. "If you order a classic martini in the dining room, our servers will bring the whole Boston shaker to the table and shake it in front of you." Not only does this provide a little entertainment for the table, but it also plants the seed for the surrounding tables and sales for martinis immediately skyrocket.

Janice Lucarelli, director of marketing and communication for Mixology Canada agrees, "Visual appeal is extremely important," she says. "People will see a cocktail going through the restaurant and diners will order what they're having." Whether it's a little pyrotechnics behind the bar, or hand-shaking a martini at the table, adding a little bit of flare to the cocktail making process directly affects your bottom line and gets people talking.

Another key component to any successful cocktail is quality. Ask any chef what the most important factor in good cuisine is, and the answer will always be quality ingredients. Why should a cocktail be any different? At Solarik's Barchef, it's not. There, for example, if a drink recipe calls for grapefruit, their mixologists will hand-squeeze a grapefruit directly into the shaker.

The Keg doesn't go quite so far yet, but they have been a little fresh obsessed lately. Chisholm says "using fresh ingredients is insanely important. We have a new cocktail called the Hendrick's Mule that calls for mint and cucumber with gin and limoncello. We use fresh mint, fresh cucumber and muddle it the old fashioned way—these things make a difference."

It doesn't have to be a long, arduous task. The bartenders at The Keg make fresh margarita mix every three days. They squeeze the limes; squeeze the lemons; add the sugar, and top it off with water. It's simple, has a shelf life of three days, and you can taste the difference every time.

Using fresh ingredients will cost a little more, but according to Solarik, the juice is worth the squeeze. "Ultimately, when you're dealing with fresh ingredients, your profit margins will be a little smaller, but it's worth it. The customer gets a quality product and they appreciate that." To keep track of his inventory, Solarik treats his bar no differently than his kitchen. "Our costs are completely broken down. I can tell you the exact cost of every cocktail we make and exactly how much we profit. Every bunch of mint is broken down to the penny, and if you do the math, it's well worth it."

Some of Solarik's more elaborate concoctions need to come with a premium price—his $45 Manhattan, for example, is a mix of whisky, vanilla cognac and bitters. To match the quality ingredients, Solarik provides innovative presentation by serving the cocktail in a bell jar filled with hickory smoke. But as Lucarelli from Mixology Canada says, "you won't sell anything if it's not marketed correctly." Especially, one might imagine, a $45 Manhattan. It's no surprise that Canadian giants like The Keg are masters at marketing. Although Chisholm wouldn't divulge all their secrets, he put the emphasis on staff endorsement, saying "getting the staff on board is everything. You can be serving the best cocktails in the world, but if the staff don't care, it's not going to sell." Chisholm noted that The Keg's best selling martinis weren't necessarily the ones with the best names or with the most popular flavours. People were buying the same drinks that the staff drank after work. So if you get your staff on board, the sales will follow. Solarik emphasizes proper staff promotion as well. "Some of our drinks are expensive and some take time to prepare," he says. "If my staff aren't properly interacting with our clients things can go awry." So what happens if someone goes to Barchef—the epicentre of creative cocktails—and orders a rye and ginger? Well, Solarik and his staff will make them a boring old rye and ginger. But, once they are comfortable, Solarik might try and branch them off the beaten path by saying "if you like rye and ginger, why don't I make you something with a little fresh ginger syrup, a touch of Cognac and fresh lime?" This is a great way to approach a customer who might be stuck in a rut without causing any offense, while simultaneously taking a bar-rail sale and up-selling to a more lucrative transaction. It's a win-win situation: The customer is enjoying a new and exciting beverage and the bar makes a little extra money. The modern cocktail palate can be a fussy one, and trying to accommodate every new fad can be time consuming, expensive and ultimately against your best interest. You don't have to brew your own bitters or cure your own olives. But splurge on some real limes and fresh mint, and display them proudly on your bar. At the very least, it's a conversation starter, but it can also instill some pride and passion in your staff—which can make all the difference in the world. Give your cocktail list a stimulus package this summer. Focus on fresh and quality ingredients, and try adding a little presentation to your drinks. You may be surprised next time you add up the sales.




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