by Shaun Layton | Two of the USA’s most respected barmen – Jim Meehan and Jeff Bell – just spent a few days in Vancouver to promote The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender’s Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy. If you’ve never heard of the place before, PDT (“Please Don’t Tell”) is a New York City bar, inarguably one of the better ones in the world. It was founded in 2007 by Meehan and it’s where Bell toils as GM.

Though today it’s hardly a secret (these lads have been on every show and in every magazine), PDT was and remains one of the pioneering establishments that brought to the fore the smaller, more intimate “speakeasy” style. The bar still stands by its rules and abides by remarkably meticulous standards. If you want to check it out the next time you find yourself wandering the East Village (the original, not the recently contrived one in Hastings-Sunrise), look for the hotdog shop called Crif Dogs at 113 St. Marks Place. Go in and have a dog or two (personally, I like the “Jon-Jon Deragon” flavoured with cream cheese and scallions), wipe your mouth with a paper napkin, and then slip inside the old wooden pay-phone booth in the corner by the front door. It hides the entrance to PDT. When you pick up the receiver it will start ringing on the other side. Someone will answer and (hopefully) let you in through the door, which is otherwise locked. Inside you will find a dimly lit, intimate space with fantastic cocktails and top notch service.

It’s always on my map when I’m in New York, and it’s definitely on every map I draw for friends or patrons of mine who are headed that way. Note: always try and make a reservation as it is VERY small, and VERY busy!

Anyway, back to Meehan and Bell’s visit: in coordination with the CPBA (Canadian Professional Bartenders Association) and wine/spirits behemoth Brown-Forman, our visitors were in town to promote the book, explore the city, and eat and drink in our bars and restaurants. They also put their services on display for two nights, setting up a special PDT pop-up bar at The Clough Club in Gastown.

Having done this sort of thing before, I know it’s not easy. Working in an unfamiliar bar, sourcing products in a foreign city and so on — it has its challenges. Also, every bar nerd in the city (including myself) is going to show up, order complicated cocktails, and expect perfection. Meehan and Bell prepared a menu of PDT hits like the now modern classic Benton’s Old Fashioned (bacon-infused bourbon, maple syrup, Angostura bitters) and the Cocchi Cola (Tennesee Whisky, Cocchi Americano, Nonino Amaro, tiki bitters). I tried – with a couple sips from helpful friends – the whole menu, and the execution was flawless up and down the list. (If I had to pick favourite of the bunch it would be their beer cocktail, dubbed the One Two Punch.)

What blew me away most of all wasn’t their stirring techniques or shaker faces (both superb, mind you), but rather their hospitality. Never once did they seem flustered, and the way they mixed and mingled simultaneously was impressive. Any capable bartender can manage a bar when it’s at capacity, but when it’s not your bar and EVERY person in the room is ordering cocktails, it can be difficult. It didn’t show in the slightest with these gentlemen.

That PDT should be on your bar bucket list goes without saying, but you should definitely check out the PDT book as well. It’s one of my favourite modern cocktail books, as it’s loaded with great techniques and a wonderful mix of classic and modern recipes (over 300). Added bonus: stunning illustrations by New York artist Chris Gall. Many thanks to Talia Kleinplatz for the images below…

THE DRINKER’S ARCHIVE

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Shaun Layton has helped to maintain a top notch bar scene in Vancouver for ten years, and since day one at Gastown’s L’Abattoir, where he is the Bar Manager. He also runs his own consulting company, designing bar programs and training staff locally and as far away as St.John’s, NFLD. Layton has competed and travelled throughout the USA and Europe, touring distilleries, breweries and bars. He was recognized in 2010 as the Bartender of The Year by Vancouver Magazine.