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| - My sister has been talking about taking us to Barchef for a couple of years now. Finally our 4 schedules lined up and we made a date.
We walked in at around 9:00 p.m. were thrilled to get a table (with comfy chairs) immediately. We were glad we arrived when we did as we noticed people who came after us were asked to wait.
The interior was dark and mysterious with candlelit tables and lots of people sitting at the bar. On our next visit (and there WILL be one) we'll sit at the bar as that's where you can actually watch the magic happening.
We were greeted right away and handed menus. We had to use our phones to actually read the menus because it was so dark, but that was fine with us.
We opted for 4 of the 'Modernist Cocktails' first as those are the fancy ones with all the special effects. I got the Black Truffle and all I can say is WOW!!!!!!! It was out of this world. I kinda wondered what a $25 cocktail might look like and I was not disappointed in the least. I was given a glass with a gin, elderflower and coconut mixture and it tasted divine. The waiter told me to take a sip and then eat the contents of one of my 5 tasting spoons. They looked amazing with a black truffle snow, smoked Maldon salt and a coconut foam. What a taste sensation! I would definitely order this again.
My husband got the Mad Men cocktail ($25) and it was served in a glass that looked sort of like a fancy bong as it had a thin glass straw attached to it. It was served with some little jellies on the side. They had a flavour of tobacco and cherry and were really interesting to pair with the drink which had bourbon, vermouth and maple.
My brother-in-law had the Essence of Fall ($25). This was an amazing sight to behold. It looked like a little forest was being delivered to the table. There was dry ice wafting all over the place and quite the spectacle. The drink was made from brandy, sweet vermouth, balsam
fir bitter and rosemary syrup. There was a huge sphere of maple ice in the middle of the drink. He really enjoyed it too, but wasn't inclined to finish the maple ice.
My sister ordered the Oceanic ($30). It was so cool to look at. There was a glass bowl on the bottom with 'sand' in it, made from violet foam and grapefruit essence. Then there was a Curacao gel and fresh tarragon to represent seaweed. Perched on top was a bowl made from ice which has white chocolate and cedar. It was pure white with blue and green etchings on it. It looked like china! In the bowl were a couple of rolled up jellies made from Curacao and elderflower cream and also an elderflower foam. On the side was a jug of warm white chocolate 'washed' water with coconut rum and lavender infused maraschino liqueur. When the waitress poured the jugful of liquid into the bowl, it was magnificent. The bowl broke and fell into the glass bowl and there was mist all over the place. Everything was stirred together to make the whole thing taste like the ocean.
We decided to have regular cocktails next. They're not as spectacular, but still really delicious. Each of the ones we ordered was $15. My sister had the Four Seven Two, which is purported to be bourbon and coke meets mojito meets mint julep. It had Bourbon, cola bitters, fresh lime, muddled mint and mint syrup. It was pretty good, but a pretty sour. I wouldn't order unless you're a big fan of sour drinks.
My brother-in-law had the Backwoods Boulevardier. It had Backwoods infused bourbon,
sweet vermouth, Campari and flamed atomized essence of tobacco. He liked it, but thought it was a bit bitter. I, however, loved it! If you're a fan of bitters, this is a good one to order.
My husband had the Dark Necessities. It had Bourbon, violette liqueur, caraway infused maraschino, rosemary syrup, sweet vermouth, and cacao bitters. It was good, but was just a little too overwhelmingly 'herby'.
I had the Scottish Breeze. I LOVED it!!! It had Orange infused scotch, mint, raisin bitters, honey and black pepper syrup, soda and atomized Islay. It was just the perfect mixture of sweet, bitter and delicious scotch flavour. I would have it again for sure.
We could've stayed there all night, just trying more and more cocktails but just 2 drinks each ended up costing almost $250 with tip so I'd say this is more of a special occasion place where you only order a drink or two.
We will most definitely be back!
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