Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/148134
BAR TRENDS A calling us. It became an obsession. Jack and I decide to move upstairs for punch. Inspired by David Wondrich's revered tome Punch: The Delights & Dangers of the Flowing Bowl, McGarry was drawn to the unpretentious and convivial nature of punch service, which is, as he puts it, "how drinking should be" (although he jokingly admits having had to Wikipedia the term "frat party" when people referred to the current association of most American punches). With 72 drinks on his current menu, s it turns out—I discover at 10 a.m., sipping pints of Guinness at New York's The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog—I have a lot in common with Jack McGarry. Ponied up at the downstairs saloon in the Financial District that he and partner Sean Muldoon have poured their souls into over the last three years, we talk about many things in the bar industry and it seems we share a similar philosophy on many topics. He speaks—with some degree of irony—about how many of today's bar. He is certainly someone who has, and will, dedicate his life to the craft of bartending. But Jack McGarry is 24 years old. Jack and Sean garnered an international reputation at Belfast's Merchant Hotel, a classic hotel bar whose shiny glass trophy cabinet was hemorrhaging awards when they both left in 2010. In 2009, they took out three awards at Tales of the Cocktail, including World's Best Cocktail Menu for what remains the best compendium of drinks I've ever seen. Well, it was at least until The young bartenders are being fast tracked into stardom or are actively seeking it out, jokingly calling them "Facebook bartenders." We both agree that unfortunately, too much focus has been placed on creating drinks and not enough on the simple joy of hospitality. For one of the most revered names in the bartending world today, Jack McGarry is not after fame. In fact he's downright embarrassed by it. He speaks with the conviction and experience that one might expect from someone who has spent a life behind a Jack McGarry: "We're selling more than drinks here," he says. "We're selling comfort." Dead Rabbit opened in February of this year. The bar at The Merchant—as part of an initiative they called the Connoisseurs Club—attracted some of the industry's heavy hitters from all over the world to a small city with no cocktail culture to speak of. Dale DeGroff manned the bar. So did Gary Regan. Suddenly everyone knew their names. But it wasn't enough and like it did for me as well, New York was it could be seen as an intimidating read for the cocktail laymen although he does have an insert of ten seasonal drinks which is far easier to navigate. The one thing that is most remarkable about The Dead Rabbit, far beyond its outstanding menu, great staff and world class cocktails, is their attention to detail and their innate sense of hospitality. Industry legend Gaz Regan (as the afore-mentioned Gary Regan is now 88 / the tasting panel / august 2013 TP0813_066-103.indd 88 7/24/13 9:51 PM