I am opening a new bar tonight!

Today is the day! Tonight is the Soft Re-Opening of my bar under its new concept and name, Ember & Alma Cocktail Bar. For the last 2 months we have been working tirelessly to get everything ready to change our concept, and for the last week I have been pulling 14-15 hour days to make all of the physical changes, which is why I haven’t been posting as much content recently. This rebrand has been dominating my life.

But its also been giving me so much hope and optimism. I have not felt this way about my bar in years. I’ll admit, 5 years of running a restaurant day to day, it can get repetitive and you can become jaded. But with these new changes, and some new key personnel within my team, I’m as excited about this restaurant and bar as I have ever been.

For those who don’t know, I have owned and operated a bar & restaurant for the last 5 years (I published this video all about our journey earlier this year). My mother, and I took this restaurant over but never changed the name because of a whole comedy of situations. Some our fault, some the fault of a world shaking global pandemic but either way we ended up leaving the restaurant with its original name.

This was a problem for us, the Restaurant was called Labaredas Brazilian BBQ & Bar, and had been there for 15 years prior to us taking over, which meant that it had a pre-existing clientele, a pre-existing brand, and lots of pre-conceived notions about it. We tried to rehabilitate the name, we renovated the interior, built a bar and changed up a ton but unfortunately despite all of our efforts we just couldn’t shake some of those pre-conceived notions. Don’t get me wrong, we

If you read the name “Labaredas Brazilian BBQ & Bar” you probably have a few assumptions yourself. You could probably guess that there are skewers of meat being paraded through the dining room and possibly an all-you-can-eat kind of vibe. You may also be incredibly perplexed as to how to say the word “Labaredas” out loud. And you may assume we have a bar as well.

5 years down the line, and we have a few problems. 1. We don’t do Brazilian BBQ the way that most other places do. We don’t have skewers of meat parading through the dining room and hadn’t in years, Covid and rising food costs made it so that we had to pivot and change everything up. And while we had to make those changes internally to survive, now all of these years later the name was causing confusion. We had always been a Craft Cocktail focused, small shareable plates but the name didn’t tell you that. So our guests would only know that if they walked in through the front door.

Problem no. 2 is that Labaredas is a tough word to say and its confusing, even in portuguese where the word comes from. Being a cocktail bar & restaurant in the suburbs of Boston, while we have many Brazilian guests, this lead to a lot of confusion for the general public.

And so the challenge for us became, after 5 years of rebuilding a new image under this name, and obviously still suffering from the prior image, how do we create a new concept and name that both honors the work we did over the last 5 years and also put us on a new path with a name and decor that better represents what we actually want to do?

Because believe it or not a name and brand holds so much power.

Anyway! if any of you ever find yourselves in Massachusetts or New England it would be an honor to host you folks at Ember & Alma, we could drink some dope tequila or mezcal or try some incredible Brazilian inspired cuisine. If you want a sneak peak I have posted some photos on my Instagram stories today and you can follow Ember & Alma on instagram here.

Fall Flavors Don’t Have to Suck

It’s officially Fall throughout the United States, which means it’s unofficially Pumpkin Spice Season. While the pumpkin spice craze isn’t anything new, it’s become increasingly ubiquitous, especially within the mainstream beer, wine, and spirits industry.

Starbucks may have popularized the Fall flavoring trend, but it’s clear that pumpkin spice has become a commercial staple that is unavoidable. Remember when there were only a handful of pumpkin spice-flavored beers available on the market? Now, it seems like every brand is trying to get in on the gimmick. In addition to beer, there is virtually no mainstream category of alcohol or spirit that is available on the market that doesn’t have a Fall seasonal component. We’re talking seltzers, rums, whiskeys—you name it—all injected with sugary, chemically, Halloween-down-your-throat flavoring. There’s gotta be a better way to enjoy amazing Fall flavors, right?

Anders Erickson shared a video on Fall cocktails recently that highlights a few ways that you can accentuate Fall without being beholden to stereotypical seasonal ingredients—not that there’s anything wrong with those ingredients (as Anders noted in the video). Going off of Anders’ example, here are some other ways that you can accomplish a well-made seasonal drink and even show some creativity in the process.

Ingredients:

Obviously, ingredients are the first major factor in setting the theme for Fall. Apples, pumpkins, and cranberries are traditional drink staples, but don’t shy away from getting creative and mixing it up with other ingredients that are synonymous with fall!

Carrots, beets, horseradish and squash are all examples of produce that are fresh and plentiful in the Autumn and are great vehicles for bringing out rich, earthy, and warm tones that are synonymous with Fall. Nuts, honey, and maple syrup also add classic fall flavors to traditional drinks, but herbs like fresh rosemary and pepper can also act as enhancers that can surprisingly seasonally transform.

Smoke: Who doesn’t love a nice, big, Fall bonfire? Adding smoke itself is perfect for Fall cocktails/beverages. Smokey spirits like Mezcal or extra-aged bourbon can also provide body and complexion. For an easy boost of smoke, try lighting a cinnamon stick and using it as garnish—it’s a great way to set the Fall mood!

Appearance: Using ingredients that create vibrant fall colors, and garnish with fall foliage or serve in chilled mugs seem cheesy, but appearances definitely matter! In the same token, focusing on themes like harvest festivals, cozy fireplaces, or autumn leaves help transform to create a special seasonal experience.

Pairing: Pair your fall cocktails with complementary foods and beverages, like roasted meats, hearty soups, or pumpkin desserts.

Best Thing We’ve Seen on Social Media This Week

I woke up today and this video from my friend, Leandro, the Educated Barfly was the first thing that popped up on my feed. It is a combination of some of my favorite things, 1. Leandro himself who has always been an inspiration and is a great guy who I did a very fun but ultimately short lived Podcast with called Behind the Stick (which you can check out here).

This cocktail also features Cachaca which is Brazil’s national spirit and probably my favorite spirit to work with and drink myself.

And it was also created by one of my favorite bartenders today, Ivy Mix, who owns a killer cocktail bar in Brooklyn, called Leyenda. Ivy is also the author of the book that has had the biggest impact on my career, Spirits of Latin America.

So needless to say, this cocktail was just the perfect combo of everything.