Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/61075
THE MESSAGE Popping Up in Miami I n Miami recently we stopped in at the fi rst pop-up bar in the city, The Broken Shaker, put together by BarLab, namely Elad Zvi and Gabriel Orta. They had three weeks to furnish the space at the Indian Creek Hotel: the patio of this funky, classic Déco building in old Miami Beach. Zvi calls it "a very random place" and says (misleadingly) "we don't try too hard." In fact, for guests, it's very relaxing to laze about, but behind the scenes the guys are putting together all their own "handcrafted, culinary-style drinks." Ingredients like syrups and pickled vegetables are homemade, and fresh herbs for drink garnishes are grown in Gabriel Orta (left) and Elad Zvi from BarLab. the patio's blue- tiled fountain. Everything is more than reasonably priced, with drinks from $9 to $12, weekly "Specialty Libations" and wines at $11, bubbles $13; beers and some very tasty "Nibbles" are $5 each. Inland, on Biscayne Blvd north of central Miami, partners in Miami's fi rst pop-up restaurant, Fook Yah, have found themselves a new base as of January. This one has a simpler name: The Federal. Run by food-and-drinks con- sultant Aniece Meinhold with her partner chef Cesar Zapata Diaz and friend Alejandro Ortiz, The Federal's full name promises Food, Drink and Provisions. Delicious original takes on traditional foods and vermouth-based cocktails showcase the team's creativity on the menu. Meinhold calls this style "gastro-pub" or "modern American tavern." Challenges in its strip-mall location are offset by staff members immediately welcom- ing each guest who steps into their sidewalk-table space as well as into the restaurant itself. About a third of the 95 seats are outside—very pleasant in the Aniece Meinhold runs the bar program at her Miami restau- rant, The Federal. Miami evening. By-the-glass wine is $5, beer $7–12, cocktails $9. With Meinhold's social marketing skills, expect to hear great things about The Federal soon. —Becky Sue Epstein 18 / the tasting panel / april 2012 Will (left) and Dave Willis at the Bully Boy distillery. "Stone-Ground Hard Red Winter Whole Wheat Flour" for example, for their vodka. They make white rum and white whiskey, too. Having only begun distilling in January of 2011, their fi rst releases are un-aged spirits; the oak-aged spirits won't be on the market till later this year. The brothers grew up as the fourth generation on a farm in the middle of Massachusetts. Dave became a lawyer and Will went into real estate development for a while before their agricultural heritage lured them back to work with their hands. With some of their own capital and a bit of angel investing, they got to work, distilling fi ve days a week in the mornings; afternoons are devoted to processing and sales calls. When we visited a few months ago, they were thrilled to have gotten their fi rst 100-case order. As the fi rst craft distilling licensees in Boston since Prohibition, they use old-fashioned, craft-style bottles, which they are proud to have made in the USA. And they still have strong ties to their family farm. So they named their distillery after another element in their family history: their great-grandfather's prize draft horse, Bully Boy. —B.S.E. Bully Boy Rides in Boston I f you're going to be "Boston's only craft distiller" you have to be in Boston, so broth- ers Will and Dave Willis spent months looking for a cheap, high-ceilinged space for their Bully Boy HQ. Frankly, it looks like a long, two-bay garage; they used all their money on two beautiful, Bavarian-made Kothe copper column stills. And on the fi nest ingredients, like the bags I saw of custom-milled Maine HEATH ROBBINS PHOTOGRAPHY CESAR ZAPATA DIAZ FOR THE FEDERAL MIAMI PHOTO: JAMIE FLECK