Gimlet #163
Lucky coincidence of Javier de las Muelas
It should be emphasized that cocktails from Javier de las Muelas are a real performance for wine tourists – guests of bar Gimlet in Barcelona. This historically popular spot is a true gastronomic attraction for the picky community of Barcelona‘s hedonists.
The owner of the place and the famous bartender Javier de las Muelas himself recalls that it all started with a happy coincidence: «One afternoon, I had the idea of looking for a place in the Born which in those days was the most bohemian district of Barcelona. As luck (that essential ingredient in life) would have it, that same afternoon I met the owner of a bar who was about to retire and wanted to sell the license and lease of his premises. That place became my first bar Gimlet».
Night leisure referent in Barcelona
The cocktail bar Gimlet in Rec street was moved to Gimlet in Santaló street. Quickly, the bar became a night leisure referent in Barcelona and breaks all schemes around cocktail world.
Javier de las Muelas in Gimlet Santaló maintained the classic international cocktail bar concept, while gave it a modern atmosphere with a futurist air, very attractive for a diverse and plural.
After 40 years
After 40 years, Gimlet Santaló continues being a referent in the cocktail world and a symbol of leisure in Barcelona positioning itself as a cocktail bar in which enjoy of the best atmosphere, of a varied menu of cocktails and, in the warmer weather, the terrace.
Among the long list of exquisite cocktails, it is worth to highlight BOULEVARDIER (Maker’s Mark, Martini Rosso, Martini Bitter), GIMLET(Bombay Sapphire, Rose’s lime) and, of course DRY MARTINI (Bombay Sapphire, Martini Extra Dry, lemon twist).
COCKTAIL INITIATION WORKSHOP
One of the offers for guests is education, COCKTAIL INITIATION WORKSHOP. The participatory workshop to welcome you into the world of mixology. The participatory workshop to welcome you into the world of mixology. The participants are distributed at the bar or tables adapted for the workshop with the ingredients, the bartender gives the workshop explaining the basics of mixology and the preparation of the cocktail, the participants make them with his help, focused on teamwork. Once the cocktail is made, the bartender makes a tasting to decide “the best” (everyone will win, but this way we create a bit of competition). The participants taste their own creations and are awarded a nominative diploma as they have done the workshop.
The story of the beginning
The story in the memoirs of the owner of Gimlet – Javier de las Muelas sounds like this: «We opened with no money, with a single cocktail shaker, with no stools, with none of the brass-buttoned white Mao jackets that I loved so much, but with an immeasurable stock of optimism, enthusiasm, and passion, with the energy of twenty-somethings and the support of our friends who turned customers. And we struck just the right note with our version of the classic viewed through modern eyes. True, back then we had no idea how to make cocktails, but we studied, practiced, and practiced again, and from the day we opened the cocktails were impeccable. And here I must thank another of my mentors, Epi Vallejo, who wrote a marvelous book from which I learned the art of mixing: Manual del Barman.
I would like to mention that nowadays not many bartenders understand what creativity is, there are too many professionals in single labels. But what is important, it is the base, the classic cocktails. The service in bartending is very important, how you work at the bar, how you serve the cocktail – so the main things are the client and the service, the openness and benevolence. I always work behind the bar with 100% positive emotions, because client is 100% important».
