This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
ON-TRADE / INTERVIEW: Made in Milan
“standfirst”>With his effortless Italian style and über impressive resumé, Claudio Grisorio has seen patron numbers soar during his time as bar director at deVigne. Clinton Cawood discovers his commitment to cuting edge cocktail innovation
London’s Marylebone is not facing any kind of shortage of fashionable venues in which to get a cocktail. And yet deVigne has been attracting an increasing number of loyal regulars for a number of reasons – not only because it is part of the Mandeville Hotel.
The visual impact of the bar, whether entering via the hotel’s lobby or its own private entrance, is striking. To quote Stephen Ryan, who was responsible for the recent redesign of not only deVigne, but the hotel’s lobby and restaurant as well, it is “casually smart but tailored”. Which fails to explain that deVigne is particularly welcoming as well.
Illustrious career
The presence of Claudio Grisorio, the ever-smiling bar director, helps with this impression – promising to know a customer’s “usual” after one visit. Grisorio would embody a stereotype if he wasn’t quite exceptional. Born in Milan, he is perfectly groomed, in an immaculately tailored suit, exuding effortless Italian style. He is both friendly and efficient, and clearly enjoys his work.
While this may all come naturally to Grisorio, he has had ample opportunity to hone his craft in some of the most prestigious venues in the industry. Perhaps most significantly, his family owns two well-established café bars in the centre of Milan, which means that being behind a bar was a major part of growing up for Grisorio.
When he was 19 he spent a year in the US – a year that proved to be formative to his career. It was here that his real interest in cocktails began.
“It was dynamic. Compared to Italy, they were years ahead. People were playing with exotic fruits… and this was also when flairing was avant garde,” he explains. “It paid peanuts, but I had fun. It was a great teacher.”
The next stop was London, and Grisorio’s first position with one of the big names in the industry, at one of the most famous and enduring venues – The Savoy’s American Bar. Compared to his family’s bars in Milan, “it was a very different style”, says Grisorio. Looking back, he remembers his time at the Savoy as “a great experience. This was in the early 90s, when the bar was winning lots of awards, and was the talk of the town. It was a small team, serving demanding guests. And it’s five-star so you can’t mess around”. Heading the team was the Savoy veteran Peter Dorelli, and working with him was one of the highlights for Grisorio.
One of the most beneficial aspects of his six years at The Savoy, Grisorio explains, was establishing a base of contacts. Standing behind the bar in deVigne, Grisorio explains, “Some of the guests here still remember me from there.” One of the reasons for this may be that many of them have followed him throughout his career. The next stop for Grisorio, and consequently his adherents, was One Aldwych, the trendy Covent Garden hotel. In terms of clientele, Grisorio simply explains: “Stars and celebs – I’ve seen them all.” One Aldwych also allowed Grisorio to continue to experiment with new ingredients for cocktails.
Spicing things up
Grisorio saw “a new experience, and opportunity to touch luxury in every sense” in a move out of hotels and into the private club sector. He launched Morton’s, where he created his signature Wasabi Martini. “This was a creation for sushi, which at the time was a new thing. I had to play with a number of ingredients in order to keep the flavour.” Grisorio was later approached by Annabel’s Group for the launch of the refurbished George Club.
In his experience with private clubs, Grisorio travelled extensively in search of various ingredients, but also undertook roles in staff recruitment, training and management. “It was a bit like going back to school, except I was the teacher,” he remembers. This part of his career remained particularly varied, including a short period running a chain of five restaurants. It is at this point that the stereotype returns: “I spent most of my time on my Vespa between the restaurants,” he says.
In all of this time, Grisorio had established a significant reputation for using unusual ingredients and creating original cocktails and cocktail lists. “I like to personalise. My menu is never a copy.”
| CV: Claudio Grisorio
1992 Spends a year in the United States furthering his knowledge and understanding of making cocktails 1994 – 2000 Works under Peter Dorelli at the American Bar in the Savoy Hotel, London 2000 – 2002 As a mixologist at One Aldwich cocktail bar in London’s Covent Garden, Grisorio experiments still further with cocktail ingredients 2002 – 2006 Launches Morton’s private club, where he creates his signature Wasabi Martini 2006 – 2007 Joins Annabel’s Group for the launch of The George Club, where he undertakes roles in staff recruitment, training and management Feb 2007 Appointed bar director at deVigne bar in the Mandeville Hotel |
Experimental
More recently, Grisorio came across an advert for the position of bar director at the Mandeville. The major draw for him was “the bar design, and a nice crowd that know how to drink”. The new position has kept him busy on a number of fronts, least of all in terms of sourcing ingredients such as “flowers, saffron, sage, chilli, from select suppliers. I’ve also managed to bring in new fruits, as well as spirits. I’m always curious about what’s new”. This has resulted in the listing of Magellan, a blue gin that goes into deVigne’s new house Martini, “The Mandeville”.
And while Grisorio may use some unusual cocktail ingredients like saffron and wasabi, he does make of point of saying, “My passion is fruit. I change the list seasonally.” In addition, he goes on to explain that “we need more spices – we’re exploring more with them, as well as flowers and botanicals”.
This experimentation is evidently well received by the bar’s patrons, who are consistently increasing in number. “We get, for example, people from Piccadilly – mainly the younger crowd, late 20s to early 40s. It’s funny, they’re mostly ladies.”
Personal touch
Grisorio has some theories about the bar’s ongoing success. “Around here the competition is really high. You’ve got to be on edge, knowing the trends, as well as knowing people. What people [in the industry] usually lack is the human touch. Every night I go to other bars, and some places might be more beautiful, but they’ll remember your drink here. That’s what I like. They’ll come back for that.”
The bar relies very little on hotel residents for its clientele, drawing rather on those who work nearby, or local shoppers. As the hotel’s marketing material suggests, deVigne is appropriate, “whether gasping for a refreshing cocktail after a hard afternoon’s shopping or in need of a stiff whisky after a gruelling meeting”.
deVigne has a number of other drawcards. For one, it holds live jazz performances on Sundays. The bar snacks, provided by the hotel’s main kitchen, are notable as well. “With the head chef we’ve created a beautiful snack list. We want to bring back caviar, include some Thai food, and provide sharing platters for large groups.”
One benefit of having clientele that appreciate this level of food and drink has been significantly lower levels of anxiety in the run up to the smoking ban. deVigne has been a non-smoking venue since the beginning of March, and Grisorio is happy with the decision. “We were one of the only non-smoking cocktail bars. I think it’s good for the trade – the air is cleaner, and people don’t mind either. I’ve only had one table leave because they couldn’t smoke. I find that people stay longer.” If nothing else, Grisorio has had a four-month head start on what the rest of the industry is now grappling with.
Grisorio’s newest introduction to the list at deVigne is a series of organic cocktails, something that is sure to be a success with the bar’s patrons. The wasabi and saffron Martinis, as unusual as they are, look like only the start for Grisorio, making deVigne a place to watch for innovation in drink creation in the future.
|
The Mandeville Hotel This fashionable, privately owned hotel underwent significant refurbishment two and a half years ago. The emphasis of the redesign was on creating a deluxe hotel, and saw its 166 rooms reduced to 142. The creative side was handled by interior decorator Stephen Ryan, who drew on various influences to create the unique style of the hotel’s reception and dining areas. There are hints of ancient Egypt and Greece, as well as more contemporary elements. In Ryan’s words, it combines “elements of my inspirations with modern technology, and exotic and unusual finishes”. He simply describes the style as “classic with a twist”. Like deVigne, the hotel’s restaurant has a separate entrance, and places an emphasis on diners not necessarily staying at the hotel. The 70-cover restaurant also has the facility to provide private dining for 20. In addition to Claudio Grisorio’s expertise, the restaurant and bar benefit from Ian Jenner’s experience as food and beverage manager. Jenner has previously worked at the Waldorf Hilton and London’s Landmark Hotel.
|
© db July 2007