The story behind Mumbai's best bar
Summary
An interview with mixologist Darren Crawford who built the drinks program of the multiple award-winning restobar Americano in Mumbai
Mumbai’s restobar Americano secured the number one spot in the city at the recently concluded 30 Best Bars 2024 where it also ranked #8 in the country. It is the only place in the city in the coveted Top 10 in the current edition of the homegrown award platform.
While the spotlight is on the bar team led by Govind Koranga, few people know the cocktail program has been designed by Darren Crawford, a veteran mixologist from the San Francisco Bay area where the owner of Americano, chef Alex Sanchez, grew up as well.
Crawford, 45, began his career by checking IDs at the door and working at bars in San Francisco part-time as a student before finding his bearings at the speakeasy Bourbon & Branch, where he has worked since 2006 and calls ‘one of the best bars on the West Coast’.
“I started my professional journey at the end of the dark ages when cocktails came from the 80s and 90s and were sweet and sour, full of sugar, no one could spell mixology and there was no real craft behind making drinks," Crawford says.
He built his portfolio by first watching and learning from other bartenders, like Jonny Raglin, Thad Vogler and Martin Cate—vanguards of San Francisco's cocktail scene. He was a consultant at bars, such as Curio in San Francisco and Krescendo in New York City and created menus for places like, Devil’s Acre and Tony Nik’s Café along with Bourbon & Branch. By 2019, Sanchez was scouting for talent to launch Americano, and Crawford was ready with his skill sets in place.
Also read: How cocktails are named
“When we started working on Americano, the expertise we needed to run the type of bar program we envisioned did not exist. As I am from San Francisco, I liked the idea of finding someone from home with a similar perspective and equally high standards," Sanchez shares when asked how the duo came together.
“I have my unique style of making cocktails that balances complexity of spirits and ingredients with a certain memory attached. For example, mezcal has been my personal favourite spirit for 12 years now and I love creating cocktails that showcase its complexity. I also value my freedom and opening a bar is kind of like having a child in the sense you are stuck with it," Crawford says.
Nevertheless, in 2019, he jumped on a plane and came to India for the first time to prepare the cocktail menu for Americano as Beverage Director. “I had never been to India or done an international program before that. But Sanchez explained everything and it sounded too unique of an offer to pass up. I took a leap of faith and came to Mumbai," he says.
The six-month residency became a year-long process as Crawford grappled with uniquely Indian problems such as lack of ingredients and unavailability of his choice of spirit. The struggles also brought about a refreshing change to erstwhile cocktail menus with in-house liqueurs and infusions taking centrestage at Americano since inception.
Crawford cites the example of facing problems while making the classic Negroni with equal parts of Campari, vermouth and gin. At that time, Campari, the main liqueur in the drink, was too expensive or out of stock, while the vermouth wasn’t up to Crawford’s standards. Crawford decided to make both Campari and vermouth in-house to maintain quality as well as keep the pricing in check. “Americano is a neighbourhood dining space and we didn’t want to price the drinks above ₹ 800-900," he says.
Even basic lime juice had inconsistencies, something Darren and the team balanced with acids and oil.
As Sanchez says, “What has always impressed me about Darren is his ingenuity and resourcefulness. He came to India at a time when few ingredients were available and yet he managed to create a stellar program that reflects his skill and understanding of his craft."
The in-house infusions have become a mainstay at Americano as well as Otra, the new venture by the duo along with partner Mallyeka Watsa that became one of the most anticipated openings of 2024.
With Otra, Crawford dug deep into the restaurant’s theme of Jamaican and Puerto Rican cuisine to design a drinks menu with no vodka or whisky cocktails, but one that offers playful concoctions with rum, pisco and agave spirits. They also sell two bottled cocktails inhouse. These are Una Mas with Nixta corn, passion fruit, mezcal and tequila at ₹4800 for 750ml; and El Rey with saffron, orgeat, annatto, orange blossom and Don Julio Reposado tequila at ₹ 7250 for 750 ml. The team wanted to move away from serving cocktails in pitchers or punch bowls, and decided to sell the bottles for shared drinking.
“By the time Otra launched, we had travelled widely and wanted a space with a great vibe where you would want to come two-three times in a week. The beverage program also focusses on the fun element where we took the drinks just a little further than earlier. I’m proud of the drinks at Otra," Crawford says.
While Crawford admits that the initial menus at Americano were safe and didn’t have any tricky drinks, he went all out with Otra’s cocktails mixing in ingredients such as makrut lime, green grape soju, mole bitters, ancho chillies and more.
The success of Americano’s drinks program might tempt bar owners to look for expat mixologists, but Sanchez shares, “We did not seek out Darren outright because he was from abroad, but our search for the most appropriate and most skilled individual led us to him. Most importantly, bar owners should invest in the right person, they should not be misguided in thinking that hiring an expat is a silver bullet."
The team follows a top-down approach with freedom given to every person in the food chain. Sanchez says Crawford had total creative freedom while the bar team has autonomy to tweak things around as they see fit.
Crawford, who has done several cocktail menus for Americano and Otra so far, is due for another visit to India soon. “When I came in 2019, I did not anticipate 75% of what eventually went into the Americano menu. The cocktail space was also different back then and it’s great to see bartenders getting respect like chefs in India."
Sanchez signs off with high praise for Crawford: “Darren is a rare breed— a mix of raw talent, intellect, curiosity and humility. To this day, Americano and Otra are two of my favourite places to drink cocktails in India— I say it as a big fan of Darren’s work, not as an owner."
If the awards and full-house crowds at Americano are anything to go by, quite a lot of other people would agree with him too.
Must-try cocktails
Americano: Dead Rabbit (agave-based) and Yakuri Negroni (gin-based)
Otra: Trade Winds (pisco-based) and Nomad (mezcal-based)
Priyanko Sarkar is a Mumbai-based writer covering the F&B industry.
