Drink Pairing at the Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro in Berlin
© Jan-Peter Wulf
Bar ohne Namen
Entschlossen verweigert sich Savage, der Bar einen Namen zu geben. Stattdessen sind drei klassische Design-Symbole das Logo der Trinkstätte in Dalston: ein gelbes Quadrat, ein rotes Viereck, ein blauer Kreis. Am meisten wurmt den sympathischen Franzosen dabei, dass es kein Gelbes-Dreieck-Emoji gibt. Das erschwert auf komische Weise die Kommunikation. Der Instagram Account lautet: a_bar_with_shapes-for_a_name und anderenorts tauchen die Begriffe ‘Savage Bar’ oder eben ‚Bauhaus Bar‘ auf.
Für den BCB bringt Savage nun sein Barkonzept mit und mixt für uns mit Unterstützung von Russian Standard Vodka an der perfekten Bar dazu.
With its hybrid concept giving equal status to the bar and restaurant, the Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro quickly made a name for itself after opening in 2019. Now the establishment is offering mixed drinks tailored to the items on its menu – usurping a role traditionally played by wine. How does it work? We paid them a visit to find out.
It is mid-week in the late springtime. The day is sunny and pleasantly warm as the first customers make their way into the Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro. It goes without saying that most of them look for a place outside – after all, as a centre of food and hospitality, Schöneberg’s Goltzstraße is a great place to sit. And that is great for us, as it gives us the chance to go inside and enjoy a nice chat about cocktail pairing. Although word has gotten around that a mixed drink also tastes great when enjoyed with a bite to eat, this still continues to be the exception, or only in conjunction with specific dishes. At the Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro, however, it is practically the default option, because every item on the menu is accompanied by a suggestion for a suitable mixed drink. For example, a drink made from sherry, apple verjuice, herbs and Ume Su is the beverage of choice for oyster mushrooms served with hazelnuts, horseradish, kohlrabi and pine cones. Another pairing on offer: a cocktail featuring rum, red beet, mint, and maple syrup to be served alongside red beet with Shiozuke rose blossoms, white chocolate and rooibos.
The drinks with no names
Two things stand out. Firstly, the drinks are very ‘culinary’; in other words, they feature numerous ingredients with which we are familiar from the culinary sphere. And secondly: the drinks have no names. This was a conscious decision. Elias Heintz, who came to Berlin following a stint at the bar of the Travel Charme beach hotel on Rügen and who has been running the bistro’s bar for the past year and a half, explained: “Here, we serve the drinks as an accompaniment to the food.” When he first arrived at the Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro, he wondered why there were cocktails to be consumed before or after a meal, but nothing designed to go with the food itself, and he set out to remedy the situation. “We spent a great deal of time thinking about how we could make this idea a reality. I talked to other bar managers and sommeliers and shared ideas, and finally we decided to offer a separate cocktail menu for the dishes we serve. We want our bar to really stand out from the crowd and to give our customers a truly exquisite experience. The aim of our drink pairings is to support the efforts of our chefs – our kitchen is the focus here.”
Systematic drink pairing
That is why these drinks have no names and no garnish. The result: all the attention goes to their flavour. In conjunction with the dishes, they perform an important function. We want our cocktails to do more than simply go well with a meal – we compose them systematically to play an active role in the experience. Heintz: “We create different types of pairings.” Sometimes they serve as a balancing force, as when a hearty dish like spring onions with potato galette and intensive alpine cheese is juxtaposed with a refreshingly light drink comprised of Riesling, verjuice, parsley and carrot. Or, as is the case with the first course – a delicately creamy, lightly roasted celery schnitzel with finely grated fresh celery, fresh ponzu, earthy pine needle powder and buttery walnut purée – which we coupled with a drink based on spicy vermouth, aromatic vetiver and apple brandy infused with Douglas fir that is topped up with a fizzy herbal mixture for a sparkling finish: the carbonation cleanses the palate after the creamy dish so that it is ready to appreciate the next course.
Varied and exciting
Pairing can also be used to heighten flavours. Heintz: “A good example of this is when we complement a drink containing red beet with a cocktail that also contains red beet.” Another type of complementary pairing, for example, would be for a dish containing peach to be matched with a drink featuring the flavour of nuts – or vice versa. Customers are also fascinated by ‘cultural pairings’. Heintz: “One such pairing is an adaptation of the margarita that we served with a summery Mexican dish last year.” He is convinced that the range of approaches they take towards pairing helps to make the concept more exciting and varied for customers – with a result that offers patrons more creativity than would be possible with wine.
