9 minute read
Kayla Saito
KAYLASaito aka Kayla
Bar Manager @ Capitano Carlton, 421 Rathdowne Street, Carlton
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ABOUT KAYLA
I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, with my mom and Hawaii with my father.
Since my first step into it ten years ago at a bar in Memphis, I’ve loved working in hospitality. My background is in visual art, and hospitality challenges me to create. You create a positive experience for guests, drinks that bring joy, and re-examines a perspective—all the while making connections between individuals.
This year I entered my first bar comp, World Class, and was placed in the Top 3 nationally. What an incredible experience. It allowed me to grow and has encouraged me to continue in bar comps. Bar comps are invaluable; they challenge you to create the best you can and explore concepts, techniques and ingredients.
KAYLA’S HOME COCKTAIL TIPS
Like at any great cocktail bar, how your beverage is served to you drastically affects how you enjoy it, and ice and glassware are crucial. At Capitano, we present our drinks clean and simple with no fuss. Besides making sure your liquid is lovely, make sure you have great glassware and ice on-hand. There’s nothing worse than getting all your ingredients for cocktails only to dig out those last two sad ice cubes in the freezer to shake your whiskey sour.
For your home bar, I suggest investing in elegant glassware for your cocktails such as Nic and Nora’s or coupes (for your cocktails served up), Gabriel wine glasses (wine of course, or iced bubbly cocktails), straight rocks glasses (for drinks with little or big ice) and small glasses 40-50ml capacity (for shots, sake, sherry etc.).
For ice, your corner store bag of ice sometimes leaves things freezer burnt, overdiluted and lacklustre. Directional Freezing ice trays are a great way to freeze crystal-clear ice at home. Getting that ethereal clear ice in your drink will do justice to your precious creation.
KAYLA’S TOP 4 COCKTAILS
1. El Diablo
INGREDIENTS:
• 50ml blanco Tequila • 10ml creme de cassis • 15ml lime juice • 20ml fresh ginger syrup* • Top with soda water METHOD: Shake all ingredients (except soda water) with 1 cube of ice until the ice melts and shake is silent (this technique is called whip shaking). Pour into ice-filled glass and top with soda water. GARNISH: Candied ginger and lime wedge. ICE: Single cubed ice for shaking and cubed ice for serving GLASS: Highball
*GINGER SYRUP Method: Slice fresh ginger into thin pieces and cover with equal parts water in a blender. Blend, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Measure strained ginger juice and combine equal parts ginger juice and white sugar until dissolved. Refrigerate in an airtight bottle and use within a week.
2. Hopper’s Highball
INGREDIENTS:
• 30ml Glenfiddich 12 • Top with Sweet Gui Fei tea • Mandarin slice METHOD: Squeeze the juice from one mandarin slice and leave at bottom of glass. Add 30ml whisky and top with tea. Add ice. GARNISH: Fresh mandarin slice. ICE: Cubed ice for serving GLASS: Highball
3. Arcana
INGREDIENTS:
• 45ml Japanese whisky • Top with arcana water kefir* and adjusted green apple juice** mixture*** METHOD: Build in glass before adding ice and garnish GARNISH: Fresh ginkgo leaves or green apple slices. ICE: Cubed ice for service GLASS: Highball
KAYLA’S DREAM BAR
The SG Club, Shibuya City, Tokyo
LAST NIGHT OF KAYLA’S LIFE BAR
Cantina OK! Council Place, Sydney
LAST NIGHT OF KAYLA’S LIFE DRINK
Shaved ice Margarita
KAYLA’S NIGHT OFF BAR
Black Pearl, Smith Street, Collingwood, Melbourne`
*ARCANA WATER KEFIR (makes 750ml) • 450ml boiling filtered water • 3g fresh ginkgo biloba leaves • 9g jasmine pearls green tea • 40g organic raw sugar • 1tbsp water kefir grains (live grains) Method: Steep gingko and tea in boiling water. Strain, and allow to cool to room tempreature. Add sugar and kefir grains and leave to ferment in an open jar for 3 days with a cloth rubber banded around the top to keep debris out.
• 1/2 bsp malic acid (optional) • 1/4 bsp ascorbic acid (optional) Method: Steep gingko and tea in boiling water. Strain, and allow to cool to room tempreature. Add sugar and kefir grains and leave to ferment in an open jar for 3 days with a cloth rubber banded around the top to keep debris out.
**ARCANA WATER KEFIR AND ADJUSTED GREEN APPLE JUICE MIXTURE Method: Add 750ml arcana water kefir and 200ml adjusted green apple juice and carbonate using a carbonation cap, PET bottle and Co2 rig. Place <3/4 full PET bottle(s) of Arcana into an ice bath and cool. Squeeze all air from bottles before carbonating at 50psi. Shake vigorously and put back in ice bath for 15 minutes. Bleed gas and squeeze all air from bottles. Carbonate again and shake vigorously. Leave in ice bath for 15 minutes before placing in refrigerator overnight.OR Chill Arcana batch in an ice bath and follow instructions on Sodastream to carbonate liquid 2 times.
4. Till & Temper
INGREDIENTS:
• 45ml Johnnie Walker Black Label* (infused with Makgeolli lees peaches**) • 90ml whole corn oksusu-cha*** • 25ml Jocheong rice malt syrup • 1g nine-month miso METHOD: Batch the cocktail and rest for 12 hours before racking off sediment. Strain through an oil filter. Add all ingredients and carbonate at 45 psi. Pour into glass and add ice. GARNISH: Fresh Peach Slice encrusted with ‘Corn Dust’**** ICE: Cubed ice for serving GLASS: Collins
*JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL (infused with Makgeolli lees Peaches) Method: Infuse whisky with dehydrated Makgeolli pickled peaches at
CAPITANO CARLTON
5% by weight. Rest for 3 hours before straining
**MAKGEOLLI LEES PICKLED PEACHES Method: Finely slice young peaches on mandolin. Rehydrate Jighemi (makgeolli lees) cakes in lukewarm water. Soak peaches in mixture in a ceramic pickling urn overnight. Take out meaches, rinse in its own liquid and dehydrate at 60 degrees for 12 hours or until crisp.
***WHOLE CORN OKSUSU-CHA Method: Use a saucepan to roast the dry waste left over from cold-pressed corn kernels until golden brown, stirring constantly. Add corn silk and continue to roast. Add corn obs and greenest young husks and just cover with boiling water. Rest for one hour and strain.
****CORN DUST GARNISH Method: Cold-press juice corn. Dehydrate liquid at 60 degrees for 12-24 hours.Blend dried corn juice and dried makgeolli pickled peaches. Add a pinch of salt.
Rustic American-Italian cuisine, a twopage wine list, and awesome cocktails: this unassuming street-corner restaurant packs one hell of a good time.
The first indication of what’s inside are the wine bottles lining the doorways. With only Italian grape varieties on show, it’s clear that the restaurant knows its roots. Inside, the venue feels like a clash between an American diner and an Italian restaurant: White tablecloths and black-aprons are a contrast to the fauxleather booths, red walls, and spotted lino floor.
If at first glance the menu seems a little basic be rest assured it will live up to the hype. The food is a rustic, homely, inviting and wholly delicious affair. Expect generous servings of pizza and pasta along with a variety of sides.
To compliment the food is a choice of over 60 wines. About 90% of these hail from Italy while the remainders are all Australian wines made from Italian grapes. The cocktail menu has been carefully crafted by Kayla Saito and the rest of the team to encompass traditionally styled drinks, modern adaptations, and completely original styles. Unique Capitano Carlton specialties included the Tiramisu Milk Punch and the Peanut Butter & Miso Old Fashioned.
Capitano Carlton is open MondayThursday 5:30-10pm, Friday 5:3011pm, Saturday 12-11pm and Sunday 12-9pm. It can be found at 421 Rathdowne St, Carlton.
For more information email eat@capitano.com.au or call (03) 9134 8555.
APHRA’S PUNCH
BY: KAYLA SAITO | CAPITANO SPONSOR: ST-RÉMY SIGNATURE
This is a creamy and complex clarified milk punch that balances the honey, oaky and nutty flavours of St - Rémy Signature brandy with banana molasses, dry sherry, coconut, toasted hazelnuts and amazake. The milk punch grew in popularity in the 17th century when female writer Aphra Behn included a recipe in one of her plays.
INGREDIENTS:
• Makes 10 serves • 225ml St-Rémy Signature brandy • 75ml hazelnut infused amontillado sherry* • 70ml banana molasses** • 1 tsp lemon juice • 1 pinch of flake salt • 300ml coconut milk (thin/drinking coconut milk, 5-15% fat) • 100ml Amazake • A pinch of grated nutmeg and cinnamon
METHOD: Combine brandy, hazelnut infused amontillado sherry, banana molasses and lemon juice in a large container. Add coconut milk and amazake to a saucepan and heat to 80 degrees celcius. Slowly combine all ingredients and leave at room temperature for one hour before refrigerating overnight. It is important to leave undisturbed for a clearer strain. Strain punch through a coffee filter, wait ten minutes, then strain through filter again. Pour 75ml of punch over a large ice block.
GARNISH: Amontillado sherry soaked hazelnut brittle.***
ICE: Large block ice for serving
GLASS: Rocks
*HAZELNUT INFUSED AMONTILLADO SHERRY • 100ml amontillado sherry • 20g hazelnuts (toasted)
Method: Coarsely chop hazelnuts and toast in a pan. Add toasted hazelnuts to sherry and leave to infuse in a sealed container at room temperature overnight. Strain through a metal strainer and save hazelnuts for garnish. **BANANA MOLASSES • 2 Lady Finger bananas and peels (2 parts) • panela sugar / coconut sugar (1 part)
Method: Peel and slice bananas into small chunks. Slice the banana peel and set aside. Weigh the banana fruit and add 25% (weight of fruit) of banana peels. Weigh combined fruit and peels and add 50% (weight of combined fruit and peel) of panela sugar. Gently mix to combine and leave in an airtight container at room temperature. Stir occasionally to extract liquid and flavour from bananas and dissolve the panela sugar. Once the panela sugar has fully dissolved, strain through a fine strainer.
***AMONTILLADO SHERRY SOAKED HAZELNUT BRITTLE • Amontillado sherry soaked hazelnuts • 150g white sugar • 4 tbsp water • Pinch of flake salt
Method: Dry Amontillado sherry soaked hazelnuts in oven or saucepan on low heat. Line a baking tray with baking parchment then put the sugar and 4 tbsp of water in a heavy-based frying pan and heat without stirring until golden brown. Once the syrup is caramel in colour remove from heat. Stir through the nuts and quickly pour over the parchment, using a rubber spatula to spread out as thinly as possible. The brittle will begin to harden quickly, so make sure to move fast. Immediately sprinkle with 1 pinch of flake salt and leave to set. Once cooled and set, break into manageable pieces and store in an airtight container in the freezer.
