David Naylor
Park Social, 224 E Olmos
Take one "porthole." Lay it flat, unscrew one of the plate glass sides and "build" a colorful and aromatic blend of lemon and grapefruit peel, marigold blossoms, blackberry tea, dried hibiscus flower, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, mint, a scraped vanilla bean ... reassemble. Meanwhile, weigh out in grams precise measures of water, verjus (green grape juice), Cocchi Torino vermouth, simple syrup and Michter's 10-year rye. Chill. When ready to serve, pour the well-chilled liquid into the porthole device, stand upright, and let infuse a few minutes. Dispense shots at intervals over, say, an hour's time, appreciating how the elixir deepens in both flavor and color. Appreciate, too, the skill and experience necessary to pull this all off.
David Naylor, co-owner and chief creative officer of Park Social, does simpler drinks, of course, ones not requiring a $100 device and an arsenal of aromatics. The Golf Cart is based on Jim Beam ("I'm in love with Beam—not only for its price point but its consistency," says Naylor) infused with lychee-scented black tea to which he adds ginger liqueur, simple syrup, lemon juice and mint. Of course, you do need to have (well, maybe not really, but it seriously shortens infusion time) a Whip-It! dispenser that works by nitrogen cavitation ... OK, we won't go there. But what would normally take weeks happens "in about a minute and means I can do drinks tableside at brunch [at neighboring Folc]." It's also a seriously good cocktail with just enough tea and lychee to make it enticingly exotic.
The methodology behind the Golf Cart "comes straight out of Aviary," the Chicago bar associated with experimental chef Grant Achatz's Alinea at which Naylor did a brief apprenticeship last year. "They threw me onto the line the first night there," says Naylor—and they were totally free with sharing both ideas and equipment. The porthole came about through a collaboration with Achatz and others, and it's Naylor's intent to eventually have about 10 of them. Both the aromatics and the infusion will change from time to time, and prospective drinkers will have to reserve the $25 libation in advance. It's worth it.
Naylor's other bar experience is substantially less technical, and includes stints at the now-shuttered Coco Chocolate Lounge & Bistro and as head 'tender of the bar at Sustenio inside the Éilan Hotel. ("It was the worst design ever, but we made it work," he says.) But he credits as his first real aha! moment sampling a Vieux Carre, a drink made by Olaf Harmel, then at Bar du Mon Ami. When pressed further, he also says "first and foremost, I love to cook, so that has taught me a lot regarding flavors." Put it all together, and, voila! a bar of his own next to a kitchen run by a friend, and fellow experimenter, Luis Colon.
That porthole drink sin nombre is becoming more intense as we talk, by the way.
So how's that going? The bar does draw cocktail crazies such as yours truly, but "slowly and surely, we're turning on the locals," says Naylor. Olmos Park choices are, of course, limited (bars not associated with a restaurant aren't allowed), but there's also the "we can walk here" factor. "We serve Lone Star for a reason," he says, "but as long as you're here for a good drink that's all that matters." Fading into the background are his initial feelings of "Help! I don't know what I'm doing here."
The porthole shots are now getting even deeper, with rye fading and blackberry in the ascendancy.
And now that the initial, and inevitable, owner's remorse has faded and he's used to managing four employees on a rotating basis, Naylor has "more grandiose plans", including an extended bar, expansion into a storage space not currently used to full capacity, a reach-in keg unit...and even the utilization of a rotary evaporator (don't ask) that the guys at nearby Mixtli currently have some of the parts for. "Jesse [Torres] and I are all over that," he says, taking some of the sharing ethos he experienced at Aviary and paying it forward in San Antonio. As the opening of Mezcalería Mixtli in The Yard approaches, it's this kind of collaboration that may well make Olmos Park a bar destination in spite of itself.
Take this as inspiration to check it all out: the porthole libation has now become an integrated medley of vanilla and blackberry with hints of citrus, all bolstered by spicy, background booze. Results will vary, but consider the drink's maturation a symbol of what's to come. —Ron Bechtol
