Marini’s & Jose release an album

Legendary producer of chilled beats series Cafe Del Mar, Jose Padilla is back in the music scene after a break of coupla years, teaming up with Marini’s on 57 to produce a special album based on the outlet, called Sunset Hours (Marini’s On 57 Vol 1).

Jose himself was at Marini’s for the album launch, a half-day affair starting with the PC in the afternoon, followed by drinks at Marini’s, and finally Jose juggling the decks later that night for a house set. But i had to miss the last one due to another engagement.

Cool bar

Cool bar

Jose Padilla is world-renowned for being a sunset-tunes DJ at Cafe del Mar, a bar on Ibiza, and popularized electronic chillout, specifically the Balearic variety. The first Cafe del Mar compilation was released in 1994, and there have been 18 since. Jose’s Mixcloud link here.

1,000 pieces of the new album have been initially pressed. This one has 14 tracks from all over the world; it would have been great if we had a KL artist in there as well.

Close neighbour

Close neighbour

The theme is chilled of course, being Sunset Hours n all (aka cocktail time!).

There’s one exclusive track, which Jose co-created, while the rest are other artists. The compilation is more electronic than his usual stuff. And quite serious.

A couple of tracks stand out for me. Dragonflies (Cantoma Remix), a chill house tune by Jose Padilla has a solid, jazz-funk-inspired bassline, topped by the seductive, minimalist and ethereal vocals of Scottish chick Kirsty Keatch.

I Hate Hate (an oxymoron of a title) is a laid-back, housy track of about 90bpm, by Razzy Bailey. It’s got that ol skool vibe, with vocals by a male, a rarity.

Jose and Modesto

Jose and Modesto

The album is available at Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, music stores in Europe and several other online sources. The CD itself should be available for sale here once approvals are got.

Represent! In NYC's Times Square

Represent! In NYC’s Times Square

The outlet’s founder and owner Modesto Marini launched the album to coincide with the beautiful outlet’s two-year anniversary, which is also the highest F&B spot in the country.

This is an interesting marketing strategy to put Marini’s on the world map. In fact, it joins iconic brands such as Café Del Mar, Pacha and Hotel Costes which have their own internationally-recognized music albums.

Congrats Marini’s!

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Cocktails at Mediteca Tapas Bar

Mediteca Tapas Bar (2181 -2426) is one joint i never knew was there until i paid a visit. It’s got a great spot, smack downtown at Fraser Place, and occupies the front of the building. The set-up is stylish.

Checked it out on a Sunday afternoon for a cocktail session. The place has a little bar as well, but we opted for a table by the all-glass wall. As in floor-to-very-high-ceiling glass! Nice.

The facade

The facade

Mediteca’s Sunday Happy Hours here is one of its unique features. It applies a trend that began in bars in Milan, Italy, called Aperitivo alla Milanese, where patrons get complimentary buffet food when they drink.

When we were there, the Sunday cocktails were focused on aperitifs, mainly Campari-based ones. The cocktail specials changes every Sunday. Guests can opt for beer or wine as well for this unique happy hour.

The entrance is inside the tower

The entrance is inside the tower

Up to the mezzanine section

Up to the mezzanine spot

The lil scene upstairs

The lil scene upstairs

The scene downstairs

The scene downstairs

The afternoon began with a Negroni (Campari, Martini Rosso & gin), which is a classic ol skool cocktail. Bittersweet, quite balanced, tho i let the ice melt a lil to dampen the sweetness. A slice of fresh orange adds some refreshment.

Sweetness from the vermouth

Sweetness is from the vermouth

Campari is an Italian liqueur, an infusion of herbs and fruit, and to me, is very bitter.

A variation of the Negroni, the Negroni Sagliatio (or the bungled negroni), rocked my boat. There’s fizziness, with some prosecco taking the edge off, adding that light champagne sweetness; makes it fruity even. Awesome.

Spritz

Spritz

The Aperol Spritz is a mix of prosecco, Aperol and soda. It’s a tarty sparkling wine cocktail, with the Aperol introducing itself at the end with a bitter-orange finish, as it’s an orange liqueur.

We tried the Americano too, which tastes a lot like the Negroni, ‘cept gin is switched for Martini Rosso.

Dessert anyone?

Healthy dessert anyone?

Mediteca’s strawberry daiquiri is well-made, strong, with a good consistency.

We tasted the outlet’s house prosecco, and it was quite pleasant – medium to dry, the right fizz, and a sweet-sour tinge that lingers for a bit.

 

Oops. Double-parked

Oops. Double-parked

Good marks on all the drinks. All spirits used are premium, none of ’em moonshine many bars use.

The food: it’s light Mediterranean stuff; crowd-favourites like pizza, breads n dips, seafood paella, some interesting sauces n salads, and a couple of other light bites. The olive oil-drenched pesto salad was funky. Weird. Me liking a salad is like an alco liking a shandy.

Sumtin called a spelt salad.

The bar area

The bar area

Some of the food items

Some of the food items

Basically what’s laid out, changes. It’s whatever the chef can cook up on that day. It’s not meant to be a meal, but a snack with drinks, or as a pre-dinner session. However, food quality is decent. I had no issues with anything i had.

Loved the potato chips, which came in soft slices. Unreal.

Cheeeeeps...

Cheeeeeps…

To enjoy the spread of Mediterranean grub, all you need to do is enjoy the cocktails, which are generally about $28.75 nett.

This Milanese happy hours thing could grow on me. And i like the spot too. Should be hitting it again in the future. Very likely to blaze their Saturday Prosecco Brunch as well, from noon till 3pm. They got cheese too.

Cheeeeese…

Attaaaack!

Attaaaack!

There's an outdoor deck too

There’s an outdoor deck too

Al be back!

Al be back!

Cost is $135.70 NETT, with all-you-can-drink prosecco.

It’s a sweet deal, if i stay sober on Friday nite.

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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KAVALAN Single Malts

So, a whisky from Taiwan?? The main thing i saw in that country were some fruit wines!

But am open-minded, so i didnt think twice and wasn’t skeptical when i was invited to taste a range of Taiwanese malts. In fact, i sacrificed a much-needed nap. Haha

Was it worth it? For sure. All KAVALAN whiskies i tried were good. It was tough to pick a favourite.

Gobble up!

Gobble up!

On the firing line that evening at Whisky Tango Foxtrot in Damansara Heights were four varieties, out of a total of seven expressions! Quite a range.

The welcome drinks were the KAVALAN King Car Conductor (46%) ABV. I didnt ask how it got its name.

Ridin with The King

Riding with The King

An easy-drinking whisky, a lil spice, a lil sweetish, with a medium finish. Good balance. Actually all the whiskies are easy on the palate.

The Classic is the best-seller, and gave me a nose of liquorice. It tastes clean and pleasant, with some fruit-spice in the mix.

Style

Style

The Concertmaster has a weird bottle. It looks more like absinthe than anything else. It’s richer than the rest, with some sweetness and some complexity. It was a lil difficult to figure out as i had a damn cold.

Tripped-out

Tripped-out

An interesting drink is the Solist Ex Bourbon Cask. The name says it all – it’s aged in those barrels. This deep whisky does give you a quick bitch-slap, but it passes quickly, and you’d never guess it rolls in at 57%.

Champ

Champ

Unsurprisingly, this is Taiwan’s first single malt, and it’s only been tickling livers since 2008. Very young.

But it’s whooped ass. Between 2010 to 2013, KAVALAN won an incredible number of gold medals – at the highly-respected IWSC (International Wine & Spirits Competition) and SWSC (San Francisco World Spirits Competition). It was also in the best-selling whisky guide, 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die. Prices however are on the high side, more than most Scotch whiskies.

It’s named after the earliest tribe that ran the show in the Yilan Valley.

The barley is sourced from Scotland, and the distillery is an hour from Taipei.

Takes a million visitors a year

Takes a million visitors a year

You can get them at certain bars (Barn Thai, Whisky Tango Foxtrot) as well as retailer Single And Available in BSC (Bangsar Shopping Centre), where there are monthly tastings.

The whisky has no age expression, and since it’s not a Scotch, they can legally be younger than five years.

As long as they taste good and are balanced, I have no issue with age!

 

Brain damage: 7.5/10

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The Bee’s cocktails and BBQs

The Bee in Publika has been around awhile now. I find it a cool place to hang out on weekend afternoons, especially when one of their BBQs are goin on. A few cold beers, some good food, company of friends…  sall u need.

It also has a bunch of cool cocktail additions to its drinks menu, made with fresh ingredients. Established barman CK is now at The Bee, so that’s good news for drinkers. The outlet has also seen renovations – there’s a cool lil lounge by the bar now.

2014-03-13 19.08.15

CK in action

Checked out some of their drinks recently, and got to screw around with some DIY too, with Tanqueray Ten gin.

I started with a Mai Tai. It was very well-made. Refreshing feel, fresh ingredients, good balance (which is always an issue), with different flavours trying to gain the upper hand.

The Rum Shack is sumtin else altogether. It’s a shared frozen cocktail – mega pitcher, light on the alcohol, with some pleasant lollipop flavours – brings out the alcokid in me. Nice.

Biggie

Biggie

There’re others of course. Being a fan of Kelapa Rock, I had to have the rum-based cocktail drink served in a coco with some lime juice added, Coconut Rum (RM23+). I also made my own simple gin cocktail – with Tanqueray, some fruits n herbs, and tonic water. They call this cocktail Gintonica.

Other popular drinks are Two-Man Tent Espresso Martini and Boozy Cendol.

Make your own

Make your own

 

My result

My result

 

Anytime

Anytime!

 

Pina Colada. I got a thing for cocktails in fruits. Must be the tropical in me

Pina Colada. I got a thing for cocktails in fruits. Must be the tropical in me

The monthly BBQ on Sundays features a special menu with some interesting food n snacks while u booze up, reasonably-priced too. You get a couple of burritos for ten bucks, etc. You could fill yourself up for under 20 bucks, that’s for sure. There aren’t any drink deals tho. I was hoping for some beer buckets.

Cook-up

Cook-up

Also on BBQ Sundays are usually other forms of entertainment. There was a ukelele class happening while i drank.

The Bee is a pioneering events and entertainment (and F&B) space; there’s always sumtin goin on. I like that. It’s also pet-friendly.

Other regular events are open mics, band nights, Raising The Bar (poetry + hip-hop), comedy, the Upfront Series, and wine appreciation.

In session

In session

 

2014-03-30 18.31.41

Eats

 

10150699_10152778480834278_7188322679969819220_n

Coming soon

 

BBQ Sundays are only once a month – the last Sunday of every month. Which means the next one is… this weekend!

Get your shades on.

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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