Each issue, FLOOD asks one of the world’s most outstanding barkeepers to give us the lowdown on their favorite drinks. This installment: Rob McHardy of Silencio, David Lynch’s real-world adaptation of the otherworldly Club Silencio from Mulholland Drive, which sits down six flights of stairs on the Rue Montmartre, quite literally in the belly of Paris’s 2nd arrondissement.
BLOODY YOSHI
“Meeting the wonderful Mr. Toshiro Kuroda, sake evangelist and owner of Izakaya Issé, introduced me to so many new flavors and possibilities. When he showed me his tomato shochu I went straight for a Bloody Mary twist with as many of his Japanese products as possible. The Norwegian potato vodka is the only exception, and it sits respectfully in the blend.”
1⅔ oz Sakura Muromachi Tomato Shu (a shochu-based tomato liqueur)
½ oz Christiania Vodka
Grilled sesame seeds
Mixed Japanese pepper
1 teaspoon Furusato yuzu sato (a green, spicy yuzu paste)
1 teaspoon Marunaka soy sauce
Fresh coriander
Cherry tomatoes
Muddle the coriander with a cherry tomato. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir, double strain, and serve in a champagne coupette. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and a dash of the pepper and sesame seeds.
Rob McHardy / photo by Ricardo Gomes
VIOLET HOUR
“Real ‘noses’ in the perfume industry are as rare as hens’ teeth—apparently there’s more astronauts on Earth than noses. One such nose, Jean Christophe Herault from IFF, helped me to create a perfume with Orris, violet, and whisky lactone aromas to go with my Pisco champagne and cucumber drink. This drink gets a mention because I enjoy watching my guests’ reaction to it, and because getting to collaborate with a real perfumer is a wonderful privilege that I don’t take for granted.”
A thin, long slice of cucumber
1 oz. Pisco Waqar
2 teaspoons of perfumed simple syrup
4 oz. of Perrier-Jouët
In a pre-chilled wine glass, serve on one small ice cube and give a little stir.
ROYAL ROSE
“I got asked to create a cocktail last summer for the Queen’s ninetieth birthday celebration at the Guards Polo Club at the Ascot Racecourse. Barnabé Fillion, the creative advisor for Royal Salute and also an olfactory designer, spoke with the royal florist, who told him that the Queen’s favorite flower is the rose. We wanted to create something spectacular and accessible, and got to push the boat out when we asked for Centifolia rose perfume from Grasse—which is more expensive than gold—and ordered five-hundred handmade rosebud-encrusted ice cubes.”
1 ⅔ oz. Royal Salute 21 Year Old Blended Whisky
⅓ oz. Lapsang Souchong Syrup
⅔ oz. Assam tea
⅛ oz. fresh lemon juice
1 oz. torrified barley water
⅛ oz. Valdespino El Candado Pedro Ximenez sherry
⅛ oz.Valdespino Don Gonzalo Oloroso sherry
⅛ oz. Oleo saccharum
⅛ oz. Damas rose hydrolat
¼ oz. of Royal Salute 21 Year blended scotch with Bourbon vetiver, timur pepper, bergamotte, and centifolia rose perfumes
Serve as a punch for a few hundred well-heeled VIPs while they watch polo.
RHUBARB RHUBARB
“This is kind of a guilty pleasure cocktail from Silencio’s second menu that still gets asked for. Named for what film extras are said to be muttering in order to look and sound like they’re having a conversation, the title seemed appropriate to use for a club designed by one of cinema’s all time greats.”
⅔ oz. Mount Gay Eclipse rum
⅔ oz. Christian Drouin selection calvados
⅔ oz. homemade vanilla syrup
1 oz. fresh rhubarb juice
1 oz. Nigori umeshu (a wonderful unfiltered plum liqueur)
1 dash Bad Dog Sarsaparilla Bitters
Shake and pour on ice in a highball. Garnish with a baton of rhubarb pickled in raspberry vinegar and sugar.
OVAL #5
“My father is a cricket fan, and the Oval is a famous cricket ground in South London; Oval was named in his honor. We’ve had a different Oval in each menu since the beginning in 2011, but when I removed the number five, the regulars and my bosses got upset, so it’s become a mainstay and a best-seller that suits our clubbing atmosphere.”
1 ⅔ oz. kaffir lime leaf–infused Absolut Vodka
⅘ oz. fresh ginger, lemongrass, lemon, sugar cordial
½ oz. fresh lemon juice
Serve straight into a crushed ice–filled highball. Garnish with a slice of cucumber in silent protest at so many people asking for “something with cucumber in it.”
This article appears in FLOOD 6. You can download or purchase the magazine here.
