The Modernist, a downtown cocktail bar in Fresno, has unveiled its new ‘Nostalgia’ menu, featuring 16 original cocktails, each with a personal story and artwork. The menu is a departure from the bar’s previous focus on vintage cocktails, instead emphasizing the personal stories and inspirations behind each drink.

A New Approach

General manager Ace Fabionar explains that the new menu is an attempt to tell personal stories through cocktails. Each drink is accompanied by a story, written by the bartender who created it, which can take the form of a short story, poem, or haiku. This approach is not unique to The Modernist, as seen in the recent season of Top Chef, where contestants were challenged to create dishes inspired by their personal experiences.

The Modernist’s bar director, Aline Tongkhuya, has created a cocktail called the Vinai N. 1-15, which combines blanco tequila, blanc vermouth, sour lime cordial, and curry leaf. The drink is inspired by Tongkhuya’s childhood experiences of sneaking guava candies from the Hmong market. The menu includes a story about these experiences, and the drink is served with a guava candy attached to the rim of the glass.

Creative Freedom

The new menu represents the most creative freedom the team at The Modernist has ever had. The cocktails are innovative and unique, with flavors and ingredients that are not typically found in traditional cocktails. The team has also experimented with essential oil mists to add complexity to some of the drinks.

One of the standout cocktails is the ‘Home Grown’, created by Fabionar. The drink combines milk-washed Nikka Japanese vodka, green chile, strawberry, olive, and habanero, and is served in a whiskey glass with a big ice cube. The combination of flavors is unusual, but works surprisingly well, with the spicy and salty flavors balanced by the sweetness of the strawberry.

The Modernist has also included non-alcoholic cocktails, or ‘free-spirited cocktails’, on the new menu. One example is the ‘Endless Days In My Chaise’, which combines Ritual zero-proof gin, floreale aperitif, zero-proof elderflower liqueur, and blueberry shrub. The drink is complex and refreshing, with a unique flavor profile that is not too sweet.

Original reporting: Fresnoland — read the source article.