Fermentation for Taste and Opulence With Sebastian Tollius of Clemente Bar

I’m usually requested by of us visiting New York, “What’s the perfect place to go get a cocktail?” After all, there’s no one-size-fits-all reply right here and I’ll must know extra about whether or not they’re in search of a cool vibe, nice service, completely executed classics, extra fashionable drinks, or a improbable spirits checklist. I all the time attempt to tailor the advice to a spot that can ship precisely what they’re in search of.

Or, if I’m actually pressed for time, I can simply inform them to go to the perfect stored secret within the New York bar scene and say: Eleven Madison Park.

EMP delivers all of it. The restaurant’s cocktail menu is world class, whether or not you select from certainly one of their meticulously crafted originals that change with the season or a traditional made with good ice and lovely glassware. The service lives as much as its three-Michelin-star rating, the room itself is iconic, and the again bar is chock-full of unicorn bottles. The kicker: Whereas you may make a reservation for the bar, they even maintain house for walk-ins.

It appears the bar staff at EMP is uninterested in being a best-kept secret, as a result of chef Daniel Humm and beverage director Sebastian Tollius have spent the final two years remodeling what was as soon as a personal eating room and occasion house into Clemente Bar, a glossy, stylish jewel field devoted to advancing the cocktail.

The Studio at Clemente Bar gives a five-course cocktail and meals pairing from an omakase-style counter with kitchen and bar workers working aspect by aspect, whereas The Lounge gives a extra conventional consuming expertise in an area that immerses company within the artwork of the bar’s namesake, Francesco Clemente. The meals and drinks mirror the plant-based ethos of Eleven Madison Park, however that limitation has solely been a boon for the creativity of Sebastian and his staff.

Amid the nonstop motion of a gap, Sebastian took the time to talk with us about how fermentation — particularly the method of creating miso — has reworked the best way the staff approaches the artwork of balancing drinks.

Taking Time to Develop

The seeds for the concepts that took root to change into the menu at Clemente had been planted in 2021 when Chef Humm eliminated all animal merchandise from the menus at EMP. Immediately, conventional sources of umami — meat, fish, and cheese — had been not obtainable. The staff started to lean on the work of fermentation sous chef Brock Middleton to recreate these lacking savory elements from vegetable sources. This meant all kinds of ferments together with a sturdy miso program.

For Sebastian, these substances represented not solely a possibility for depth of taste in his bar program, but in addition an surprising supply of opulence due to the weeks they took to develop taste. “Time as an ingredient is one thing we had by no means thought-about,” he tells me. “Like, a 100-year-old soy sauce — that’s luxurious.”

Whereas many bars flip to fat-washing or costly infusions to ship elevated drinks to their company, Sebastian discovered a option to create an expertise that may’t be replicated by merely shopping for the highest-quality substances; these flavors need to be made with endurance and care.

All of it started when Sebastian constructed a cocktail that includes chef Brock’s barley miso for the menu at EMP. That ignited the curiosity of then head bartender and present Clemente bar supervisor Richie Millwater, who was so impressed by the ingredient that he began utilizing it in all types of R and D initiatives. Sebastian inspired him to department out additional and, with the assistance of chef Brock, create new ferments designed particularly for cocktails. Collectively, the trio have developed 5 distinct misos only for the cocktail menu at Clemente, together with coconut, barley and plantain, pretzel, cacao and allspice, and pistachio and chicory.

“Air is the enemy right here. Oxygen will disturb the fermentation and may really trigger a variety of off-flavors.”

Sebastian walks me via the method of creating the coconut miso. It begins with a pink peppercorn tea — pink peppercorns blended with water and left to steep till the liquid is redolent with spice and floral notes. To a sterilized jar he provides the tea, powdered desiccated coconut, and koji, which is rice that’s been inoculated with aspergillus oryzae mould, the important thing ingredient that jumpstarts fermentation and develops scrumptious savory flavors.

As soon as the substances attain the correct consistency and hydration, Sebastian presses the paste right into a agency puck to take away any pockets of trapped air. “Air is the enemy right here,” he explains. “Oxygen will disturb the fermentation and may really trigger a variety of off-flavors.” After the sandy paste is pressed, he covers the floor with cheesecloth and provides weights to maintain it firmly in place whereas it ferments.

Lastly, he closes the jar, and strikes it to a chamber held at 60 levels Celsius for the subsequent two weeks. A number of the different misos — barley specifically — can take so long as two months to achieve the specified peanut-butter-like consistency and umami-rich taste profile. As soon as the fermentation reaches the place they need it, the staff vacuum seals the miso in manageable items and freezes it to kill any additional fermentation.

Miso in a Clemente Cocktail

Completed miso in hand, Sebastian is able to make a drink. The coconut miso makes its means into the Sakura Heights, a vodka highball impressed by Taiwanese Cheese Tea — inexperienced or black iced tea topped with a candy, savory cream cheese foam. He combines the coconut miso with Demerara syrup and lets it marinate for twenty-four hours earlier than straining it via material to take away any giant particles. At this level, the syrup has picked up all these scrumptious, fermented flavors, however the coconut and pink pepper stay on the forefront.

The miso syrup is married with vodka, Maraschino, fennel liqueur, cherry blossom vermouth, and Vin Santo del Chianti. The combination is then coconut-milk-clarified with a mixture of lemon and lactic acid. That lactic acid is essential when utilizing milk substitutes, Sebastian explains. It provides again the creaminess of a conventional dairy milk punch that’s lacking from one made with a plant-based milk.

The completed combination is pressure carbonated, poured right into a highball glass with an immaculate ice spear, and topped with a foam made out of vegan cream cheese, umeboshi (Japanese salted plum), citric acid, and salt. The ultimate contact is a dusting of cherry blossom powder.

I get nervous once I hear so many substances and steps within the manufacturing of a drink. Certainly a few of these flavors will get misplaced within the shuffle? However each sip of the Sakura Heights arrives in good concord — the richness of the cheese foam giving option to the delicate acidity and sweetness of the fortified wines with a wealthy, umami-driven mid-palate the place the coconut and pink peppercorn shine. Sebastian explains that, whereas sugar and acid are the first drivers of steadiness in drinks, including a savory part takes the drinks at Clemente one step additional, delivering a uniquely scrumptious and well-rounded expertise for his or her company. After ending the Sakura Heights I’m inclined to agree. It’s one of the scrumptious and complex cocktails I’ve tasted this 12 months.

Miso Drinks at Residence

Frankly, it will be ridiculous to aim to make miso at residence, or wherever outdoors of a facility arrange particularly for that function. It’s fully unreasonable for anybody to have a fermentation chamber at residence that’s held at 60 levels Celsius for even 24 hours, a lot much less as much as two months! I’d by no means fault somebody for not doing one thing I’d be unwilling to do myself, so nobody is shedding factors for not going the entire 9 yards and making an attempt long-term temperature-controlled ferments.

That stated, I figured it was value a shot to see if we may replicate a number of the savory magic of Clemente’s cocktails at residence with available grocery retailer substances. Whereas Entire Meals 365 Model white miso is actually umami-rich, I positively wouldn’t describe it as nuanced or particularly attention-grabbing, so I made a decision to dial up the warmth and mix it with gochujang and add each to a syrup.

The completed ingredient landed proper in Spicy Candy Chili Dorito territory by way of candy, savory warmth. I mixed the syrup with blanco tequila, Heirloom Pineapple Amaro, and lemon (together with some plain easy syrup to chop the depth) right into a kind of ultra-flavorful Daisy analogue. The end result was… unremarkable. I gave it to my major taster and fiancée Angel whose solely notes after one sip was to make a face like I had deeply wronged her and exclaim, “OOF. Savory!” The drink isn’t unhealthy, it simply lacks the nuance and class of the output of Clemente Bar. It makes me admire the work Sebastian and the staff are doing much more. I’m together with the recipe right here as a kind of umami cocktails 101, in order that for those who do this, then ultimately make your option to Clemente, you’ll admire simply how exceptional their drinks are, too.

Spicy Candy Daisy

Components:

• 2 ounces blanco tequila
• ¾ ounce lemon juice
• ½ oounce Heirloom Pineapple Amaro
• ½ ounce easy syrup
• ¼ ounce Miso-Gochujang syrup

Methodology:

1. Add all substances to a cocktail.
2. Fill with ice and shake till chilled and diluted.
3. Pressure into a relaxing coupe glass.

Miso-Gochujang Syrup

Components:

• 100 grams water
• 100 grams sugar
• 50 grams white miso
• 50 grams gochujang

Methodology:

1. Add all substances to a blender. Mix till emulsified.

This story is part of VP Professional, our free platform and publication for drinks business professionals, masking wine, beer, liquor, and past. Join VP Professional now!