BlackTail bar manager Jesse Vida can still remember buying his first two behind the bar reads: Imbibe and The Savoy Cocktail Book. “From there it was full steam ahead,” he says, recounting his move from San Francisco to New York, where he landed his first East Coast job at Booker & Dax. He continued to spend three years at Dutch Kills before making his way downtown to The Dead Rabbit, a venue that quickly felt like home base for the San Francisco transplant. “The Dead Rabbit really helped me elevate my game and detail to attention, and I knew at that point I wanted to be as involved as possible with the team and concept,” he says. It only makes sense then that he’s at the helm of BlackTail, the Dead Rabbit team’s take on prohibition-era Cuba. Here, Vida talks about the simplest and trickiest cocktail out there today, why downtown Manhattan reigns right now, and the controlled chaos he can’t get enough of.
BoozeMenus: How would you describe your behind the bar style?
Jesse Vida: Fun, engaging, attentive, and flexible with guests and different personalities. I love engaging guests and finding the perfect drink for them, or what topics excite them. I love being crazy busy and making a bunch of cocktails — I find a certain calm in the controlled chaos of a busy night at a bar or restaurant. It's a specific feeling that only happens in the most intense moments of the rush.
BM: What kind of research and development went into the cocktail menu, and how long did the process take?
JV: A lot of research and development went into the menu. From the cocktail side it was roughly three months, a lot of which we worked on cocktails every single day. The concept was much longer in the making by Sean Muldoon and Drinksology, our creative team in Belfast. Before we started working on cocktails, we researched tons of old cocktail books and menus from the 1910's - 1950's, where we found inspiration for styles and cocktails.
BM: Why should more people be making the trek downtown (as in, way downtown) for drinking?
JV: People should make the trek downtown to experience not one, but two amazingly detailed and thoughtful cocktail bars that pay homage to old New York in one of its most historic neighborhoods. We have a 19th Century Irish pub that transports drinkers with an intimate space and complex cocktail selection. Then at BlackTail you walk into Havana Cuba in lush life style, with live Cuban music and a Cuban-inspired food menu. The cocktails are fashioned after the American bar in Havana during prohibition, with 44 drinking options of house originals and classic adaptations.
BM: How has your experience at BlackTail been similar to The Dead Rabbit, thus far, and how has it been different?
JV: What's similar is the ethos — the style of service and extreme attention to detail. It's completely different in the pace and atmosphere. It's a much bigger space than the parlor at The Dead Rabbit, so that makes for a completely different drinking environment. It's a bit more lively and rambunctious; a bit louder and more open.
BM: How did you guys decide to organize the menu into the five main categories that you did —highballs, punches, sours, old fashioneds, and cocktails?
JV: The inspiration was the iconic glasses that people were consuming drinks from in Havana at that time. If you search the internet for pictures, you will see some semblance of our selection of glassware over and over. We also wanted to be accessible. It’s a large menu and that can be intimidating for a lot of people. That said, as the general public continues to become more and more cocktail-savvy, people do have a general affiliation with which type of drink will come in the different glasses.
BM: What was the most surprising thing you learned about the drinking styles and habits of Cuba of that era?
JV: I was surprised to see how much Gin, Brandy and Whiskey was being consumed at the time. I kind of just assumed everyone was drinking Rum. It certainly was very prevalent, but it was almost even with some other spirits. Our program does focus on Rum, but we have all of the categories very well represented.
BM: Which cocktail are you most excited to turn people on to?
JV: I would say the Highball section of our menu excites me the most — I have never seen them done the way we do them anywhere else. I also think they are very tasty, on top of having a very unique execution and presentation.
BM: Which cocktail took you the longest to perfect, and what made it so?
JV: The Daiquiri. It’s the most simple but complicated cocktail of all time. Every bartender has an idea on what a perfect daiquiri should taste like. I think we did something like 30 or 40 variations of white rum blends as well as ratios of lime, sugar and Rum.
BM: Who do you hope walks into the bar soon and saddles up in front of you?
JV: Joe Montana, because I'd like to make him a cocktail and talk football.
BM: Where can you be found post-shift, and what are you ordering?
JV: I'll be tucked in the corner of The Dead Rabbit’s taproom, sipping a nice, dry cider with a shot of Irish Whiskey.
By Nicole Schnitzler
(Photos by Andrew Kist | From left: Rum & Cola; Bar; Jesse Vida)