The Stranger once described my new favorite bar, Vessel, as a place to get “knocked on your ass by art.” The drinks live up to that description, and the atmosphere is much less snobbish than the rest of the review would have you believe. I was turned on to Vessel by my friend Thomas Beckett, who — oddly enough — lives about as far away from Seattle as one can get without crossing an ocean. Tom showed me some videos of Vessel’s brilliant mixologist, Jamie Boudreau, making a couple of his original cocktail creations. Since I happened to be in Seattle this weekend, I thought I’d pay the bar a visit. It was definitely worth the trip.
I tried the Vessel 75, the bar’s signature drink. As you can see in this clip, Jamie cleverly uses a maple foam to add sweetness to the drink. That’s the art part, the “knocked on your ass” part is bourbon. The strength of the cocktails by no means suffers for their uniqueness. Everything is in balance here. On top of that, Jamie is a phenomenally nice guy. I’ll definitely be stopping back the next time I’m in the city.
In the meantime, Mr. Boudreau keeps a sharp blog about mixology, where he shares recipes and photos of some of his new experiments. I spotted some of the goodies from the archives on the menu at Vessel, so you know this isn’t just his reject pile. Check it out for some insight into the world of classic cocktails and their delicious contemporary variants.
Thanks for the drinks, Jamie!
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3 responses so far ↓
Marina Martin // March 18, 2008 at 8:12 am |
I *totally* have to check this place out (and wish I wasn’t in Germany so I could have gone with you!).
Added to the Tweetspots wiki for a potential Tweetup in the near future.
Those mutant cats: get the facts before it’s too late! (and other updates) « fysigunkus, the jay hathaway weblog // June 20, 2008 at 1:02 am |
[...] Jamie Boudreau has left Vessel in Seattle, and is now out on his own, bartending ritzy private parties until he finds the right [...]
This Week #5 « fysigunkus, the jay hathaway weblog // February 18, 2009 at 2:48 am |
[...] is not really news, as I heard about it a long while back from my favorite Seattle bartender, Jamie Boudreau, who recently revamped the drink menu at Tini [...]