If he wasn’t a bartender, he’d probably be a drummer in a metal rock band and have tattoos all over his body. But he inherited his family’s passion for gastronomy and along the way he also became passionate about cocktails. Destiny was marked for the boy from Castelar.
Over time, Sebastian Garcia became a number one cocktail bar. In fact, last year the specialized magazine Drinks Internacional named him one of the hundred most influential people in the bar industry worldwide. and the exclusive bar chairwhich he created five years ago in Recoleta together with his partners, he is ranked 21st among the top 50 in the world.
“It is an elegant bar, with style, delicious food, delicious cocktails, good music. We also have a special menu made of wood and recycled paper with five cocktails made with ingredients from forests. People have a good time and want to come back. I thank them all the time, I like to hug them and treat them to my best bottles. The bottles are there to enjoy”, comments García.
The business continues to expand. Before the end of the year there will be a President in Miami and another in the San Isidro Racecourse. And, in addition, it projects a different bar in Parque Leloir with a social addition.
News: I read that you are a fan of metal rock and that if you weren’t a bartender you’d be all tattooed.
Sebastian Garcia: Totally. I studied drums for three years and I really like Nordic metal, which is a bit darker, and I would love to go to the Wacken festival, where all the Vikings go. But my favorite band is Tool, from the United States, they play progressive rock. They say that we are like a spiral and that we must always be going out, trying to break the mold. And I try to adapt that to my work.
News: He started studying gastronomy.
Garcia: I have lived gastronomy since I was a child through my grandparents, who had a garden, and with my parents. Dad had a pasta factory and on Sundays we went to La Palmera restaurant in Luján, where my mom was a cook. I remember the image of seeing my mom cooking, and with a lot of people running.
News: Did you start studying after high school?
Garcia: Yes, my mom enrolled me in a gastronomy institute and I began to study cooking and pastry. But already in first grade I had chosen to do a workshop. He was the only boy among all the girls.
News: How did you get to the cocktail bar?
Garcia: Through a colleague I came to a cocktail course that Pablo Muñoz gave right in front of her house. I was 18 years old and I didn’t drink alcohol, but I still went. It was magical because Pablo was just like my grandfather. But after the first class I told him I didn’t know if he could continue because he didn’t have the money, he told me it was the same. I got the best average and I won a paid internship for the same value of the course. This is how I did my first experience and I loved it. I started to work and at night they only paid me 30 pesos, of which 5 were to travel and the rest to dress better, study and buy magazines.
News: It seems that the way you dress is important to you.
García: Today the bartenders are a little more relaxed, they like tattoos, long hair, being a little more rock. I go the other way. The service, the elegance, the dress, having good hands, not wearing rings, working with style, making little noise. I try to adapt the classic Argentine cocktails of the ’50s and ’60s to today.
News: And over time it became a number one.
Garcia: It is a consequence of work and love. Gastronomy is my life, I can’t imagine working for anything else and I try to contribute my grains of sand.
News: What are they?
Garcia: Having understood that what the market lacked was educating customers. They don’t have to know everything we know. And if a client does not like the cocktail he ordered, it must be changed.
News: What are the secrets of a good cocktail?
Garcia: It’s not just the liquid, but also the glassware, the type of ice, whether the cocktail is flavored or not, the music that plays. The idea is to play with all the senses.
News: His favorite drink is the Negroni. Why?
Garcia: It’s cocktail perfection. It has the power and perfume of gin, the color and bitterness of Campari and the sweetness of vermouth. He is addictive.
News: How did your “Amore Milano” cocktail come about?
Garcia: He was born ten years ago when he was working as a bar manager in France. I did it thinking of women who like whiskey. It has smoked single malt whiskey, Campari, squeezed pink grapefruit juice, lemon juice, Angostura Bitter and a little sugar. And they started asking for it so much that it became a new classic in Argentina and there are bars in Mexico, Asia and Italy that have it in their bars.
News: Who would like to create a cocktail?
Garcia: I would like to prepare a Martini for Queen Elizabeth and I would like to serve Máxima. What would you prepare? Before he would talk a little with her and then he would see what I prepare for him.
News: How was your experience with Leo Messi and Indio Solari?
Garcia: I worked on Leo’s wedding and then he came to President twice. There we chatted for a long time and I was able to prepare a different menu for him. I was with Indio at his house and I made Martinis for him, a drink that he likes a lot. We chat about music, bars and travel.
News: When does the President open in Miami?
Garcia: Before the end of the year and we are almost ready to open at the San Isidro Racecourse.
News: What other projects await you?
Garcia: I am opening a bar in Parque Leloir with other partners. I want to bring the real mixology to the West. And I want to set up a garden right there so that the children from the homes can come to collect the herbs and teach them how to make non-alcoholic drinks with good nutrients.
