Featured Mixologist

TommyMerolla By Thom Meintel

Tommy Merolla likes to talk and when he speaks people listen ... then drink. A proud native of Providence’s Little Italy, Tommy’s Boston accent could charm anyone but get this guy behind a bar with a cocktail shaker and you’re sure to be mesmerized. The head mixologist for the Living Room and Restaurant Solea at the W Hotel, Miami Beach, Tommy’s name sounds a lot like Tommy Mottola (from Kid Creole’s Cherchez La Femme ... who “lived on the run”, remember?) and when I ask him whether anyone ever mentioned that he laughs and says “shaww”, but people were more apt to call him Tommy Motorola. Does that say something about his conversation skills? Perhaps it’s genetic. Tommy’s grandfather owned a bar where he practiced the art of the gab as he poured and it didn’t hurt that Providence’s confluence of creative and blue collar values played a part in the development of his mixology practice. He remembers how his parents slow-simmered a sauce (or gravy, as he calls it) for an entire day with fresh ingredients and herbs and the delicious food that his family sat down to eat inspired him to create sweet and savory cocktails that enhance food’s flavour. He’s a big fan of using fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and lavender in his drinks and the Summer Fling, made with Patron Reposado from his Solea menu, even toys with fresh cilantro. That’s a pretty bold move in a cocktail.

Tommy says that the starting point for honing in on the art of mixology came in 2008 after a 13 year stint at the Florida Room in The Delano Hotel in sunny Miami Beach. Like Mottola, he too went “on the run” down there in 1995, a seminal year in the evolution of the South Beach scene, arguably one of the hottest and still going strong. Ian Schrager’s Delano with an interior designed by trendy Parisian designer Phillipe Starck, was a fantasy playground and the nexus for clubgoers in the know. Tommy landed a bartending gig there and says that it was pure theatre. He was onstage along with a supporting cast that included his mentor, Clark Clark, still by his side today at the W’s Living Room bar which he opened, that is after also opening The Mondrian, completing a trifecta of sorts in terms of South Beach nightlife. Could it be that he’s drawn to high energy, big volume rooms packed with tourists looking for some adventure? I say it’s always nice to play to a new audience and in South Beach, the scene is constantly changing.

Ditto the current cocktail menu which favors gins and tequilas in summer and dark rums and bourbon in winter. Tommy’s signature drink is the Garden Fresh, a refreshing summer concoction with a base of tequila, fresh sage and cucumber juice to keep his patrons cool. Served in an old fashioned champagne glass, it’s the perfect accessory for the barhopping denizens of South Beach … sipped not gulped, nice and slow like a Miami sunset. Or have him mix up one of his originals from the menu. Currently, the Solea Negroni, one of his “classics with a twist”, the Bombay Sapphire gin mixed with Amaro, Green Chartreuse and Sweet Vermouth rather than Campari, earns my vote for curtain calls.

GArDEN FrEsH

INGREDIENTS

1 oz. of Jose Cuervo Platino 1 oz. of Del Maguey Chichicapa 1 1/2 oz. Freshly Juiced Cucumber 4 leaves of sage 1 oz. Fresh Pressed Lime Juice 3/4 oz. Agave

PREPARATION

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass Add ice and shake for 10-15 seconds Double strain into a chilled coup glass. Garnish half rim of Tajin (mexican citrus salt blend) and a thinly sliced, rolled and skewered cucumber.

Tommy is an eccentric authority on all things boozy whose expertise has earned him acclaim from the Miami Herald and NBC as well as winning him a People’s Choice Award for Ultimate Cocktail for a Cure. He serves as the V.P. of the Miami chapter of the U.S. Bartenders Guild and when he’s not racing back and forth at the Living Room bar, he’s busy with his just launched beverage consultancy and events production firm, Grass Roots, Inc.