When it came to planning the first anniversary menu and itinerary for Uno Más, BKC’s popular tapas bar, co-founder Priyanka Sharma had one vision – a vibrant, colourful Spanish fiesta.
This meant that for a truly authentic experience, they needed to fly down a chef, Rayber Martin (from La Comisaria), straight from Spain. And being a bar, the festivities had to go on beyond a day, and not one but two of Asia’s top female mixologists would guarantee a good night. “The culinary collaboration with Martin was destined to happen for we had loved his food when we were in Valencia. The quirk and the willingness to push boundaries drew us to him, not to mention the warmth. The bartenders are in a league of their own, and their lineage and pedigree have also made them the perfect ambassadors of the culture we want to showcase. One comes from an award-winning tapas bar and the other is a boss lady who does the salsa,” says Sharma.
Fresh and favourful
For Martin, it was important to push his palette and introduce a bit of India in the flavours too. “When I received a call from Uno Más, I was over the moon as we had met when they were on their research trip to Spain. They had tried a couple of restaurants before and after mine. There was something about my food which struck a chord with them. From Spain, we bring our seafood flavours and combined with local fresh produce, we are sure that the offerings will surprise everyone,” Martin tells us. The visiting chef, will be using local squid, octopus, duck, asparagus and artichokes. Adding flavours to this will be smoked paprika, chillies, cumin, fresh herbs, lots of onions, some pickles, saffron and aioli. “These dishes will complement chef Anurita’s pastry menu, which includes ingredients such as membrillo and horchata from Valencia. Several spices overlap between Spain and India and we are here to lend a lovely balance,” Martin tells us, before heading off to a local market to discover ingredients that will add to the flavour explosion.
What’s for tipple
Heading the bar for three days will be Macarena Rotger, the chief mixologist and bar manager of The Other Roof in Singapore. Rotger, we are told is the first woman to hold the title in the history of the Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts chain. She will be joined by Patricia Lozano Peral, Senior Bartender at 28 HongKong Street, Singapore. The duo will offer special concoctions such as Mexican Mistress (a mix of tequila, grapefruit, jalapeno, firewater bitters); Flamenco Martini (ginger vodka, passionfruit and cinnamon); and the Uno Mas, a mix of Monkey 47, fresh lime and cucumber.
On November 16 and 17 at Uno Más, BKC, Bandra East
