For The Speakeasy Group’s Head of Creative Beverage Kayla Reid, every day can look a bit different. You might find her behind the stick in one of the Speakeasy’s seven venues, running training with the group’s now 200+ staff, in the kitchens working on new menus.
We sat down with Kayla recently for a behind-the-scenes look at the menu creation for the Speakeasy’s soon-to-open The Sanderson and the reopening of iconic Sydney bar Eau-de-Vie. In the ambitious project, both venues located at 285 George Street will open simultaneously in early May.
How many hours go into developing each drink?
How long’s a piece of string?! It really depends on the drink itself. Sometimes I write a drink and it just kind of works, so I’ll put it on the back burner till the end of the process. I’ll generally start with the drinks that I think are going to be a little bit more difficult. When you’re writing drinks that are more approachable – your more spritzy or fruit-driven tropical style drinks, these drinks are often easier to balance so take less time. When I’m working on drinks that are more booze focused, more straight down and more complex these drinks take a lot of tinkering to get perfect.
You’re developing two menus – one for the new restaurant concept The Sanderson and one for the established Eau-de-Vie brand. Have you approached them differently?
With The Sanderson, we’re really developing a whole new brand and style, and in order to get across what we want to deliver to guests we started from scratch with that menu. It’s a concise list with only 12 drinks so it was essential to scope it out and make sure we are hitting every single drink category while capturing the brand’s big bold flavour brief. It’s about making sure there’s something for everyone. When you’re writing a menu that small as well, it’s a lot harder to do.
With Eau-de-Vie, we started with a menu that was halfway there and needed to be polished up, with a few of my new drinks thrown in. There are some drinks from the OG Eau de Vie that are so iconic they have to stay such as the Smokey Rob Roy, Zacapa Blazer and Espresso Zabione. I’ve added in some exciting new serves to mix it up. So many people know the Eau-de-Vie brand and I think they’ll appreciate the touch of nostalgia mixed in with new drink innovation.
Where does the creative process start for you?
When I’m writing drinks I’m thinking about guest experience, I think the most important thing is knowing that we’re going to be able to give the guests something they want. That’s something that I really love with The Speakeasy Group – the focus on guest experience. I want to be able to take the guest to a different place, I want to be able to give them something that they’re like, ‘You know what, I didn’t think I was gonna like that but my mind has been completely blown’. That’s something that I find really satisfying, is giving that customer the drink, sensing a bit of hesitation but then watching them really love it. That means a lot to me.
Has your creative process changed over the years?
I think my construction process and the way I think about drinks has definitely changed but you live and you learn and that should be the natural progression of fine-tuning a craft. The heart of my drinks is the same though, when I think about my drinks maybe five years ago my flavour combos were probably a bit too weird – but these days they fit in pretty well. Weird and wonderful flavour combos have always been something that really drives my creativity and as hospitality has adapted over time, customers are stepping out of their comfort zone a little bit more, willing to try different things. I think bartending and drink creation are taken a lot more seriously these days as well.
I want to be able to take the guest to a different place, I want to be able to give them something that they’re like, ‘You know what, I didn’t think I was gonna like that but my mind has been completely blown’. That’s something that I find really satisfying, is giving that customer the drink, sensing a bit of hesitation but then watching them really love it. That means a lot to me.
When you’re developing your lists, there’s so much more than the liquid in the glass. It’s the glassware, the garnish, the theatre – everything has such an attention to detail. So, how do you know when a drinks menu is ready?
It’s a funny question because I often think about my artist friends, like painters. And they are always asking when do you stop? The piece might be finished, but maybe just an extra touch here and an extra touch there. And then you go too far you’ve ruined it. Really when it comes to my drinks (because they are very Speakeasy) there’s so much going on but it is a balancing act. I look at my drinks like – here’s the drink but how can we enhance the serve? Do we add in some theatre – nitro, fire, smoke? Does that addition have purpose? Is it feasible within high volume service? I could just keep going farther and farther and farther. But there has to be a limit.
Is drink creation for a high-volume venue different to that of a cocktail Comp?
For my comp drinks, I can take that as far as I want because that drink doesn’t need to be replicated repeatedly. When it comes to drinks that I’m creating that need to work in service for high volume, there’s a limit. We can push the bounds as far as we want but there’s a certain point where you can’t push the envelope any further because it just can’t be executed in service to the same high-quality standard every time.
The Speakeasy Group is renowned for innovation and theatre with their menus, both food and beverage. How are you incorporating these elements into your drinks for The Sanderson?
While the focus will be more on food for the restaurant, we still want people to know that this is a Speakeasy venue. So there will be nitrogen, we’ll be doing blazers tableside, we’ll have fire, we’ll have smoke, we’ll have all the bells and whistles. Everything that you have come to know and love from the Speakeasy Group that we’re renowned for in cocktail bars, that high concept will carry through to The Sanderson.
How do you approach training the crew on your drinks?
I think with training and mentorship it’s about bringing the staff in on your vision for the drink, really selling them the drink first. It’s getting their brain and passion ticking so not only can they recreate them but pass their love of the drink onto the guest.
What are you most excited about for the new venues?
Can I say everything? Honestly, I’m really excited to be smack bang in the middle of Sydney – I’m excited for the group to sink our heels into the CBD. I’m excited to see the response from guests, the hospitality community, friends and peers. I really just can’t wait to see the doors open.
Two New Openings!
The Speakeasy Group announce their most ambitious project yet, embarking on a multi-level transformation of heritage building Beneficial House on iconic George Street. The two-floor project will include the re-opening of the group’s inimitable Eau-de-Vie and introduce brand-new restaurant concept The Sanderson (pictured above). Slated to open May 2023, you will find them at 285 George Street, Sydney.