Why do you love the martini so much?
Javier: It’s pure, dry, transparent, with a touch of sweetness. I like this type of person, too. Plus the dry martini is very important in cinema, in books. It’s like with chefs and eggs. It’s simple and easy, but very difficult to make a great one.
What’s hot in cocktails these days in Barcelona?
Javier: The gin and tonic. If you go to a bar, it has to have a minimum of 20 gins. If not, it’s not a bar.
Lots of celebrity chefs in Spain. Is it the same for drinks?
Javier: The bartender is not an artist or a star. We’re here to serve our customers.
Yeah, but everyone says they love the customer—in an interview.
Javier: You have to show it. There are lots of bartenders who are focused on creating, on making the guest go, “Wow.” That’s not important to me. It’s important to be part of a story. I love to see people’s stories unfold in bars—it’s like a movie. That’s why the cocktail must be perfect.
But doesn’t putting your name on a bar contradict that?
Javier: I put my name with humility, knowing that bartending is a job. My father was a cobbler, making one pair of shoes every two days. My father was an artist. I’m not an artist, though I know that sometimes a name can push a business.
In Singapore, hotel bars have a challenge competing with standalones.
Javier: As we say in Spanish, the important thing is that the river has water. The river takes different directions and people can choose what they want.
What’s your personal favorite cocktail?
Javier: The pisco sour. Or the Cathedral, which is several pisco sours in a pitcher. In the past, high class people in Lima, Peru—where pisco comes from—would get together after the evening mass and drink pisco sours. The drink is called Cathedral because everyone had just been to church.
And what was the first cocktail that blew your mind?
Javier: The Marazul. The second was the Tom Collins. The frozen daiquiri. And the frozen mojito. Simple but incredible.
Those are all considered pretty uncool these days. Do you still like them?
Javier: Yes, because it makes me think of when I was young. But I don’t order them anymore. Different cocktails are important to you at different times in your life. As you get older, you prefer drier drinks.
