At Atomix, a two-Michelin-starred Korean restaurant in New York Metropolis, the tasting menu showcases refined flavors pulled from its pantry of Korean delicacies staples, reminiscent of jocheong (Korean rice syrup), gochugaru (chile powder) and yuja-cha (citrus marmalade tea). The cocktails, in the meantime, are designed in tandem with the tasting menu. Every drink seamlessly enhances a particular dish, enhancing the eating expertise by way of texture and taste.
“Earlier than the pandemic, the bar merely functioned as a walk-in-friendly cocktail bar with small snacks,” says bar supervisor Marc Rodriguez. “Now, and shifting ahead, we have now devoted the bar to a curated tasting expertise the place cocktails and meals are intertwined, that includes peculiar elements within the drinks that enable them to bop across the meals in a particular method.”
Pairing cocktails with meals is not any simple feat. For Rodriguez, it’s “all about understanding steadiness and development.” He likens the expertise of the bar tasting menu to a chunk of music—beginning off mushy and delicate, the depth constructing with every dish in a gradual crescendo towards the primary course.
One of many star cocktails from Atomix’s bar tasting expertise is a layered bitter laced with the infinitely advanced omija (dried magnolia berries) tea—extra on that later—which was constructed to pair with an umami-rich morel mushroom and asparagus dish. Initially, Rodriguez thought-about a mezcal base for the unnamed cocktail, considering that the earthiness and smoke would complement the mushrooms. However after trial and error, he discovered the agave spirit too intense. That’s when he turned to a mix of savory Korean sojus as a substitute.
Rodriguez combines Samhae soju and Pungjeong Sagye soju, layering the savory notes of every expression, then blends the spirits with sorrel and arugula to extract the acidity and bitterness of the respective crops. After infusing and straining by way of a cheesecloth to take away the solids, the bottom is shiny and herbaceous, which enhances the vegetal flavors within the dish.
An earlier iteration of the asparagus course featured duck, and whereas it now not performs a component on the plate, it stays within the glass. For a further savory layer, and to spherical out the drink’s texture, Rodriguez washes the infused soju with duck fats.
To tie every thing collectively, Rodriguez reached for one of many many distinctive elements in Atomix’s kitchen so as to add complexity to the cocktail: omija tea. Native to Korea, the dried magnolia berries are revered for his or her capacity to ship umami, candy, bitter, spicy and bitter flavors all of sudden. For the cocktail, Rodriguez turns the tea right into a syrup to lend further physique and bolsters the flavour with Jangsu Omijaju, a soju-based liqueur created from the identical berry. “It enhances every thing happening within the drink, because it hits all the flavour notes,” says Rodriguez.
Not in contrast to a pinch of salt used to finalize a dish, saline resolution is added to make every taste pop, whereas lemon juice provides acidity, then the drink is shaken and served neat in a ceramic cup from Korea.
The bar went by way of 5 variations of the drink earlier than arriving on the last recipe. considered one of 9 drinks served all through the tasting expertise, every as thoughtfully conceived as the remaining. “On the finish of the day, cocktail pairings are nuanced,” says Rodriguez of the method of trial and error. “We’re diving in a lot deeper for these pairings, analyzing every course to permit ourselves the power to create one thing distinctive, and most significantly, scrumptious and complementary.”
