The flavors of Thailand are championed in restaurants all the time, and there's no shortage of incredible Thai eats out there. But Thai-inspired cocktails? Not so much.At New York's new Fish Cheeks, the Thai seafood-focused menu by brothers Chat and Ohm Suansilphong is complemented by a cocktail list by Employee's Only principal bartender Dev Johnson.
"First, I researched traditional Thai flavors that I thought may work in cocktails," Johnson said of developing the beverage program. "Then [I] expanded my search to Southeast Asian flavors in general. It was challenging in the sense that I started working with flavors of which I was relatively unfamiliar."
Advertisement
There are things on the menu you'd expect, like a creamy mango drink—which is fortunately less Cheesecake Factory and more balanced—and there are things that you might not. Many of the cocktails are spirit-forward like the Thai Old Fashioned with makrut lime, bitters, and Mekhong, a Thai cane spirit that's called a whiskey but actually more of a rum.RECIPE: Mango Sticky Rice Cocktail
Johnson had fun playing with the spirit's distinct flavor. "I wanted a boozy cocktail using Mekhong. I also wanted to translate the Old Fashioned into something that fit the region," he said, "so I decided to replace one part of the traditional citrus lemon peel) with the citrus of the [makrut] lime leaf while keeping the orange peel for the nose. It's a nice off center balance to the traditional Old Fashioned."
RECIPE: Thai Old Fashioned