Post #522067 by MIxologo on Mon, Apr 5, 2010 12:07 AM

Aloha everyone,

My name is Giuseppe Gonzalez. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you, as I am one of the tiki bar in the making called Painkiller. Myself and my partner Richard Boccato have been reading and appreciating this forum for quite a while and we would now like to officially share with you our vision for the unique brand of tiki that we are about to establish in New York City. We understand that tiki culture is something that the majority of you care for quite sincerely and we would like you to know that we are only here to join in your appreciation.

We have been extremely fortunate to have served alongside some of the best bartenders in some of the best bars in the world. We have both researched and honed our craft with meticulous dedication day in and day out. We have both decided that we want to open a bar that is radically different from anything that we have ever been a part of before. Our strengths until this point in our careers had always been in cocktail history, preparation, and technique. We have always been careful to think critically about how every element in a cocktail contributes to that cocktail as a whole and how every cocktail that is served over our bar(s) should be measured for its ability to provide our guests with a balanced and consistently executed drink.

We are avid students of cocktail history. We believe that sometimes the “cocktail” itself is not as important as the bartender who creates it. We believe that great bartenders are not all necessarily great because of their ability to make and create cocktails; that they become great because they lived great lives and they have since been venerated, not only for their accomplishments behind the bar. We believe that greatness can be achieved by proxy. For years we have read about legends like Constantino Ribalaigua from La Floridita, Harry Craddock from The Savoy, and Don Beachcomber, we can’t help but imagine what it would be like to experience a Daiquiri #1, a Corpse Reviver #2, or a Jet Pilot had it been crafted from their hands. My personal inspiration has always come from a man whose story has stuck in my mind for many years.

I am a Type 1 diabetic. This has been a constant struggle for me to contend with ever since I was a small child. Regardless, I can remember going to a cocktail bar as a young bartender in Boston and ordering a Mai-Tai. I had never had one before because I was well aware that they were too sweet for me to stomach. However, I knew that this bar was the only one that cared enough to stock orange curacao and orgeat. I made sure that I had enough insulin in tow to weather a night of imbibing. I don’t remember if I liked the drink or not, but I do remember the events that transpired shortly thereafter.

As I prepared to excuse myself to measure my glucose levels, the bartender asked me a question that I have since been asked at least once everyday: “How do you manage to tend bar and deal with your diabetes at the same time?”. I must have shrugged it off as I usually do, yet he then said something that I will never forget: “Well, if it makes you feel better, the guy who invented that drink was sick throughout his entire childhood and by the time he was your age he only had one leg.” It actually did make me feel better. The next day I took it upon myself to learn about this one-legged man who invented the Mai Tai. This was a man with limitations, both physical and financial, who would come to open bars that would set the standards that I still follow. This was a man who invented drinks that I still serve and that we all still enjoy to this day. This was a man called Victor Bergeron, aka “Trader Vic.”.

Mr. Bergeron took something that he recognized as inspirational from another man that I also took upon myself to learn about. This one was called Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, aka "Donn Beach", nee "Donn Beachcomber." I immediately understood that Mr. Bergeron had applied his vision to Mr. Gantt's concept knowing that he could do something different and unique with it; what he created was indeed something beautiful, different, and inimitable.

Forgive my choice of words but I can find no other way to express it-- both Trader Vic and Donn Beach had balls. And in the New York City that Richard and myself were raised in, one must have a strong pair of said balls in order to survive, let alone to open a bar with a similar sense of vision to Trader Vic's and Donn Beach's for a unique, different, and beautiful place for all to enjoy (and hopefully to cull inspiration from).

I learned about Trader Vic's story at a time in my life where I was still on the fence about whether or not I wanted to be a bartender. I had two kids to support and I was attempting to do so on the merits of an Ivy League diploma that was not earned via my efforts behind the bar. In essence, I was earning about 400 United States Dollars a week, whilst trying to raise a family. I soon realized something that we all must learn at some point in our lives: if you create something worth recognizing, people will certainly recognize it whether they like it or not. I have since come to understand that one's determination to create a legacy of quality behind the bar is never a fool's errand. So when someone asks me, “What does tiki mean to you?”, my response is quite simple: "My understanding of tiki is that in order to do it right, one must have balls."

It is quite common to hear devout tikiphiles declare their fondness for the culture as a whole as it provides them with an “escape” from the doldrums of everyday life. It is with this same sense of “escapism” in mind that we have conceptualized both our cocktail menu and our bar. We recollect with genuine fondness the bygone era, not four decades past, when people were able to run free and wild in the streets of our fair city. They created their own unique and remarkable subculture within a larger pre-existing entity. These weren’t always necessarily "good" people insofar as the general consensus but they were always good to us. New York City was scary back then. But it was also exciting; it had the reputation of being the place to be.

Richard and I recognize that there is a parallel between island cultures, both Polynesian and Old Manhattan. That having been said, Painkiller is an effort by two bartenders and their partners to establish a unique style of tiki. We hope that we will be welcomed into the fold as an island outpost amongst the many within the pantheon that we all look towards for an "escape." Rest assured that we are going to be doing some cool and innovative stuff at our bar.

We are not going to be following any guidelines other than the ones that we set for ourselves. People who know us know that we aren’t afraid to take a labor intensive approach if the result means that we will be able to serve them the best possible cocktail. Our goal (one of many) is to have a cocktail program that brings the most serious approach to a genre that quite honestly bartenders around the world have been afraid to take on and commit themselves to.

Most importantly, I want to underline the manifest purpose of this letter; I wrote this to you knowing full well that in my opinion the tiki bar should be a place where one can always see a sea of smiles. The bartenders are glad to be there. The guests are happy. The cocktails, the island dress and the music aren't necessarily the only elements that make a tiki bar a place where we all want to go for an "escape." The PEOPLE make it great. YOU make it great. Everyone on this forum appears to be concerned about whether or not we intend to keep pure something that is considered by all of us to be beautiful. We aren't building a bastard tiki bar. We are carrying on a tradition. We are doing just as Mr. Bergeron did before us. We are making our own Mai-Tai. We are doing things differently but by no means not showing respect and reverence for those bartenders that came before us. After announcing our plans to open our doors this Spring, many others in our vicinity have followed suit. The sharks do indeed appear to have jumped. Me and Richard are always disheartened when we see a place with so many talented people and they are all basically too afraid to present something new. Everyone is trying to mimic something else. Homogeny can be as bad as it is good.

I am the son of a bartender and no matter where I preside, all I want to do is make quality drinks. At Painkiller, Richard and myself want to make drinks for people that care enough to spend their money at our bar and allow us the honor of being their hosts. We want the people around us to respect the craft we represent, the bar that we built, and most importantly the atmosphere that we will all collectively create. We invite you to please bring to us your smiles, your positive energy, your knowledge of the culture, and also your criticism of our efforts when you feel that it will help us to make the adjustments that will elevate our bar to become recognized as a part of the canon. We promise to always make sure that everything that we prepare for you is made with respect and care. Our vision is practically the same as any of the great tiki bars: we hope that people will leave our bar with a smile and a sense of happiness. We want people to remember that the island of Manhattan, to us, is the greatest island on Earth. When you are at Painkiller, we do not want to provide you with an escape from where you are; we want to remind you that you are where you want to be.

We look forward to seeing you all at there and we trust that this will be a journey that none of us will soon forget.

Mahalo,

Giuseppe and Richard

PS Hot Dogs and Mai Tais are pretty awesome. Seriously awesome.