Jason Kosmas - Speakeasy: The Employees Only Guide to Classic Cocktails Reimagined

MASTERING THE PERFECT COCKTAIL

Homemade Syrups, Cordials, Infusions, and Accompaniments

Foreword

I MET JASON KOSMAS AND DUSHAN ZARIC at what may be one of Keith McNallys most popular bars, Pravda, where I was a consultant. Some people in the hospitality business just get it, and from the beginning these two were naturals. Jay and Dushan embraced the cocktail culture that Keith and I were pursuing as a core theme for Pravda. They understood that it was much more than just a drinkit was a complete experience, a return to classic recipes made with real ingredients and craft bartending techniquesbut also a return to a service style from another era.

Both Jay and Dushan went on to manage the bar staff and just after the new millennium decided that the time was right for a different sort of speakeasy, and so they opened Employees Only. This speakeasy, unlike the ones run by gangsters where a good drink was rare and bad ones cost a fortune, celebrated premium products and classic bar service and you could walk right into the jointno password necessary.

Employees Only captured the hearts of New Yorkers and the joint has been full since the doors opened. The timing was impeccableNew York was ready for a late night place with solid food and great drinks. Ten years later and again the timing is impeccable; the book Speakeasy will hit the shelves at the most exciting time in the history of the American cocktail. Speakeasy gives the reader an inside look at the creative process brought to bear in crafting the retooled classic cocktails. The reader can share in the creative process more fully by producing their own homemade syrups, cordials, and infusions.

New York has always been the home of great bar cultureit may be our most important natural resource. I say natural because after two hundred years the bar and grill seems as natural to New York City as the redwoods do to California. Employees Only, along with other pioneering bars like Milk & Honey and Pegu Club, has created a new template for the New York bar that is inspiring imitators both here and abroad. Jay and Dushan are returning to the classics and reinventing the classics, but most importantly they are in the vanguard to return bartending to a craft profession again.

Dale DeGroff

Acknowledgments

T HIS BOOK COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED were it not for a small army of dear people who have helped either during development, with inspiration and mentoring, or just simply by giving support during the last twelve years since we first started toying with the idea of writing down our recipes and techniques. So all of you listed belowplease accept our most sincere gratitude for everything you have done to make this book happen.

First and foremost we would like to thank our wives, Carolyn Kosmas and Jelena Zaric, for their unselfish support, patience, and the courage to stick it out with the two of us and our nightlife careers. Our daughtersLola, Mia, and Umafor inspiration and the opportunity to serve for a smile as a tip. We would also like to thank our partners from Employees OnlyIgor Hadzismajlovic, Billy Gilroy, and Henry LaFarguefor their support, love, wisdom, and hard work, without which we would never be able to have such an amazing restaurant.

Our chef, Julia Jaksic, and sous chef, Josh Blakely, who so selflessly shared their kitchen with us and let us intrude into their space whenever we had even the dumbest of ideas. Our Employees Only bar staff, current and past, the boys with tattoos who simply rock! You guys are the baddest, meanest, and most soulful gang in the world. We salute and thank you. Our bar manager, Robert Krueger, who is the smartest student we ever had and a man who has in time become a master in his own right. This book was majorly helped by a last minute save from master barmen Dev Johnson and Bratislav Glisic.

Employees Onlys general manager, Stephanie Markowitz, who provided us with guidance, clarity of thought, and lots of love. All the EO managers, servers, bussers, food runners, door people, kitchen people, coat check girls, porters, and psychic ladies who stood in the trenches with us all these years. Rebecca Kahikina, our office manager, for all the hard and sometimes unnecessary work that we load onto her.

All our customers, guests, regulars, and fansthank you for your support and loyalty. Employees Only exists because of you.

We cannot forget to thank our literary agent Donna Bagdasarian for her love and faith in us and especially for her patience. Honeywe are sorry for all the drama we gave you; you know we love you.