Share
Published 00:10 20 Dec 2016 GMT
As the brunch wars hot up in Dublin it can be hard to choose where to go. I tend to head into the Exchequer / George's / Drury Street area and choose from one of the dozen spots in that area every weekend. In the last 2 years the standard has blown me away and there are always little efforts by all the brunch spots to get one up on each other. This weekend Super Miss Sue launched the DIY Bloody Mary.
They bring all the gorgeous ingredients including succulent prawns, spices, flavoured salts and a bunch of other delicious picklers out and place them on the bar. You can load the shit out of your glass and it is pretty much a meal in itself.
Nope. I'm not a barman and the drink tasted like something that an amateur barman would make. Worse even. Way too spicy. Loaded with prawns (I presumed the game was to get as many into the glass as possible) and shit seasoning. The person I was having lunch with had never even had a Bloody Mary so her measurements were absolute gueses at best. We wanted to love it and it made a gorgeous picture but we simply aren't bar people. I go out to restaurants to be spoiled and although this will appeal to many of the lively brunch crowd it wasn't for me. It reminded me of cooking my own steak in Rustic stone. The irony here is that I actually hated Bloody Mary's until and incredibly skilled barman made me one in The Butcher Grill (sister restaurant). He had infused it with meat juices and the flavours were complex and spiced to perfection. Compared to my shambolic version his was a work of art. The simple fact is although I loved the idea of the concept a bar person will always make me a way better drink than I ever can.
As I sat there drinking my average Bloody Mary (my own fault) it reminded me of one of the most important quotes you'll ever read. If the customer was always right we'd end up with mediocre shit. It takes great vision to create FORD, Apple or Super Miss Sue. Giving power to the customers only makes you average in my opinion.
