Lot 45 bartender Rael Petit came to New York for a week to visit his sister when he was 19 — and never left. The Geneva native began working at Coffee Shop in Union Square, where he built up skill sets in everything from coffee making to bartending. “It was my hotel school for a couple of years,” he says. He obtained more hospitality experience through stints at L’Orange Bleue and Brasserie les Halles before opening his own restaurant, Brooklyn’s Potato Café, at just 22 years old. Shortly thereafter he opened Mulberry Project in Little Italy, where street art met bespoke cocktails in a tucked away subterranean space. It’s at Bushwick’s Lot 45 that patrons can find his latest sippable works, which aren’t short of peanut butter and raspberry jam (the PB&J) or artistic inspiration (read: spray painted cocktails). Here we chat with Petit about why Brooklyn has a leg up on Manhattan, the winter ingredient he’ll soon be missing, and the original first step he takes — literally — when creating a cocktail menu.
BoozeMenus: What are three priorities for you when serving a guest?
Rael Petit: Greeting them, smiling, and making sure they have a great time.
BM: What is your process for creating a new cocktail for the menu?
RP: When I create a cocktail menu for a place, I like to walk around a five-block radius and try to see what's around there, bar-wise. I then imagine what kind of clientele it would cater to. In Bushwick, for instance, I noticed that there was a lot of street art, so I incorporated what I saw into my drinks.
BM: When it's cold out, it's easy to just stay put at home. How do you argue the bar experience over the at home entertaining experience?
RP: New Yorkers have small apartments, so it's easy to convince them to come to a spacious bar like Lot 45! This bar is like a huge living room.
BM: What was the last incredible bar experience you had?
RP: Café No Sé in Antigua, Guatemala. Those guys know how to make sure you have a good time, and there was a ton of mezcal.
BM: Where do you find inspiration?
RP: My dad used to work for Swiss Air, and we traveled a lot. Tasting so much different food and so many spices inspired me to make cocktails.
BM: How do culinary flavors play a role in your drinks?
RP: My sister is a chef, and she taught me how to cook. She explained to me that when you make savory food, you need to cook with your heart and use your instincts, whereas baking is mostly about precision and timing. I try to incorporate both elements into my drinks.
BM: How would you describe the bartending experience in Brooklyn versus Manhattan?
RP: In Manhattan you need to expedite your drinks very fast and double task almost all night. In Brooklyn, you have time to have a conversation.
BM: What are your go to drink post-shift?
RP: A cider with a shot of whiskey.
BM: What's your all-time favorite winter cocktail ingredient?
RP: Quince — it's just so delicious.
BM: Spray painted cocktails: how do you master this? What's the most important thing to keep in mind for these?
RP: Three years ago I opened up an art gallery, and I learned about street art. I didn't want to do pieces in the street, so I thought it was more fun to do it in cocktails. This is still something new to me, and every time I make one I learn something new. Practice makes perfect, and I'm still in the practice phase.
BM: Are there any new or exceptionally interesting spirits you're loving right now?
RP: I'm a big fan of spirits like Singani 63, which is made of grapes in Bolivia. It's one of those spirits that bartenders have never heard of until now, even tough it was first produced in the 16th century.
BM: Any mid-shift cocktails that you do with the team?
RP: If we have a crazy night and it slows down, we quote Dos Equis and scream "stay thirsty my friend!” followed by a shot of Ilegal Mezcal.
By Nicole Schnitzler
(Photos by Riley Ziesig)