groove b a r t e n d e r s h o w t i m e FROM LEFT: AIRR’s most popular drink, the Eight; bartender Scott Morgans gets shaky with it; AIRR’s Ten cocktail c y c l e s p i n - i n t u n e AIRR QUALITY For one Gaslamp bartender, less air means more flavor By Pat Sherman • Photos by Jeff “Turbo” Corrigan During his nearly blueberry-flavored cocktail,” Morgans 10 years as a says. “It’s amazingly creamy and rich.” bartender, Scott Meanwhile, when someone is up Morgans has in the air about what they want to become a good drink, Morgans recommends the listener, taking things in stride when a patron starts to clear the air, put on airs or blow off steam. Now, as bar manager of the Gaslamp’s newt hotspot, AIRR Supper Club and Night Club, Morgans is taking the hot air out of conventional cocktail ingredients, working with executive chef Brian Redzikowski to launch an innovative drink menu with a modern flavor profile. Using a trendy culinary technique employed in the AIRR kitchen known as sous-vide (pronounced “soo-veed”), cocktail ingredients are vacuum-sealed in plastic bags, then left to stew for Eight—AIRR’s signature cocktail, comprised of Grey Goose L’Orange vodka, an orange slice, lemon and cranberry juices, with a muddled Serrano chili. “It’s got that little hint of spice on the end of it, with a sugar rim,” he says. The restaurant, nominated for a 2011 Orchid award in interior design by the <strong>San</strong> <strong>Diego</strong> Architectural Foundation, is divided into two disparate halves, with a cocktail lounge bathed entirely in a spicy, red color, and the dining room done up in starkly contrasting, minimalist white. Morgans says the red room best months at a time. suits his personality. One of the resulting beverages, “It’s more of a kick-off-yourshoes, jump-on-a-bed-vibe,” he Blueberry on the Rocks, starts with a REMEMORIES macerated blueberry and vodka mix that’s given the sous-vide treatment. “We Cryovac all of the air out of the bag, and then we let that sit for four to six months,” Morgans says. “The flavor that creates is just says. “We’ve got these big TV trays where people can sit down on the couches or beds and enjoy a cocktail and eat their food. “You’ve got a cocktail in one hand and the chef’s tuna tacos in the Scott Morgans Age: 29 Neighborhood: Encinitas AIRR is located at 6th and Market Street, downtown, in the second-floor space that used to house The Witherby, upstairs and a few doors down from Side Bar and Ciro’s Pizza. amazing.” The mixture is then poured into a martini shaker with ouzo (an anise-flavored aperitif) and shaken with an egg white. “You just get this intense, other. Is there nothing sexier than eating dinner in bed at a nightclub?” How about the go-go girls gyrating in the red room windows Friday and Saturday nights? “That doesn’t hurt,” Morgans says. Music: Hip-hop (work); Metallica or Toby Keith (fishing); classical (studying) Sport: Snowboarding Plan: Working toward a biology degree at Cal State <strong>San</strong> Marcos Flick: Any of the Airplane movies Book: Where the Red Fern Grows Addiction: Pulling pranks on people 70 pacificsandiego.com {July 2011}
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