MEET: KADEN POOL

SHOOTING THE BREEZE WITH KADEN POOL

HOSPO CONVERT AND A BARTENDING TALENT TO WATCH, KADEN POOL TALKS ALL THINGS LONG CHIM, DRINK CONCEPTUALISATION AND ENTERING COCKTAIL COMPETITIONS.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW YOU STARTED IN THE INDUSTRY.

Jeez, where do I begin? Imagine an upper-middle-class kid raised in the northern suburbs, a straight-A student who was loved by all, who then became super successful in their vocation of choice after high school. Yeah, that’s my amazing little sister, not me. I wasn’t exactly the model student. My past is a-wash with burning bridges, making mistakes and just generally not knowing what I wanted to do in life, until very, very recently. My mother says I have terrible tunnel vision, and I was lucky enough to be born with a stupid amount of competitiveness which funnelled into the hospitality sector, doesn’t make a half-bad worker.

After getting shot out of high school and applying to the police force, then the army, then trying out university, then Tafe and pretty much anything else I could give a half-arsed attempt at. I finally fell into a hospitality job at 21. Fast forward five years of bartending around the globe and coming out the other end slightly scarred with some bloody amazing stories (sorry mum), but more importantly, a pure love for hospitality. I have had the absolute pleasure to work at and be a part of some truly amazing venues around the globe. These experiences have solidified my love for hospitality, but also drive me to want to continue on this path until I become the ultimate supreme being of pure hospitality energy.

Does that answer the question? I guess that sets the precedence of this interview now, hey?

‘This was a combination of 10am martini sessions, months-long fermentation trial and errors, and an unparalleled amount of strange esoteric sentences, not to be repeated outside the four walls of The Chim’

DEAN AND YOURSELF WORKED TOGETHER, CREATING THE CURRENT LONG CHIM MENU. WHAT PROCESS DID YOU FOLLOW TO CREATE THE NEW MENU?

This was a combination of 10am martini sessions, months-long fermentation trial and errors, and an unparalleled amount of strange esoteric sentences, not to be repeated outside the four walls of The Chim. Saying that anybody who has read the menu knows there is a pretty heavy format that directs the drinks. When trying to push the envelope, you don’t really have a standard format you can follow.

The first menu at Long Chim is The Lone Traveler Vol 1:Bangkok, a Thailand journey through the eyes of a bartender. It is a sensory cocktail expedition, associating flavours through memories, exploring and creating flavours that are associated with the sights, sounds and smells of four iconic districts in Bangkok.

Given each drink is led by an emotion/story or experience, the strength of that story tends to dictate which way the drink will go. The story almost always comes first, and once that is nailed, we can move onto the drink. I’ll be confident and say making the drink comes pretty easily. (Side note: More importantly, the team is the real MVP’s. Putting up with us on a daily basis and still pumping out an ever- increasingly awarded service. You guys rock!)

The real success of this menu is the very subconscious nature of how the structures of the drinks came about. Without meaning to create each drink differently, the menu has an amazing amount of variety and approachability for all drinkers.

But if I’m going to give any advice to the future menu makers of the bar world, it’s about the world of concept menus.

Conceptualize what you want the menu to do. Do you want it to tell a story? Show case-specific styles or spirits? Transport the drinker to a time or place? Or just be a fast-casual drinking menu that shows off the venue? Keeping in mind at all times the menu still has to reflect the capabilities of the staff and the venue, and that the whole idea of the ‘concept menu’ is still a relatively new phenomenon and is very much a child of the competitive nature of today’s bar scene.

Inspiration is easy in terms of drink creation for most people, with execution being the real challenge. How you create a drink that tastes like a story comes differently to the creator and gets received differently by the taster.

This isn’t just an exercise about who can get the most press attention, or who can have one up on your competitor. It’s a way of challenging traditional drink making. Concept menus aren’t for every venue we were just lucky enough in Long Chim to have the freedom to put our deranged thoughts into a book and sell to the people who are brave enough to try it.

Most importantly, I think you need to be prepared for failure and know when to say no. Sometimes you make a great drink, but it’s just not right for your current menu. You need to learn to hold and say no. Seasonality comes into play with this.

The major saving grace of concept menus is that you can literally do whatever the hell you want, and not everything needs to be dialled up to 11. Some bars try to avoid words like ‘theme’ or ‘concept’ for fear of being kitschy. Every menu forges its own path, just make damn sure it supports the narrative.

“Innovation doesn’t mean gimmick, but it also doesn’t mean jettisoning tradition. There’s a lot of stubbornness on menus that is a total circle-jerk. Menus should be a guide for a

guest, not a pat on the back for ourselves.” Well said by Mr Lyan.

Ah bugger, I did it again, does that answer the question?

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A NEW MENU, AND HOW OFTEN DO YOU CHANGE THE LIST?

I’ll keep this one simple.

In reference to the Long Chim menu, the first volume took nearly a year to get the framework down.

But now the current format is one every six months, exploring a new region each time. Much like painting a bridge, once you finish, you just start again straight away.

I’ve never painted a bridge before, but I just assume that’s how it works.

WE’RE TOLD YOU’RE REALLY INTO SCIENCE. HOW DO YOU APPLY THIS WHEN CREATING A NEW COCKTAIL?

I’m not really into science; I’m really into Will and Grace reruns. I have an absolute passion and thirst for the knowledge about everything in my industry. When you want a career in the cocktail industry, what can you do? Yes, there are a few places around the globe you can study bartending, but you get where I’m going with this. A bartender needs to focus their direction, find out where their passion is and focus on that.

I recently found that one of my biggest passions in hospitality lies in the question, Why? Questioning the process of everything, and questioning what flavours should taste like. How can we make something taste better?

That’s why I like science, also known as knowledge. It helps us understand the industry around us. Sure, alcohol can come into that. It’s an amazing solvent and vessel for flavour, and obviously I recommend if you want to use alcohol make sure it’s the Beam Suntory portfolio (wink).

But knowledge doesn’t mean innovation or trying to be one step ahead. It can give you confidence in yourself for the everyday minutia of work, and can make you a better giver of service and hospitality in general. So don’t just apply science to new cocktails, apply science and knowledge to everything you do.

I didn’t really answer the question again did I? (laughs)

WHAT DRIVES AND MOTIVATES YOU IN THE INDUSTRY?

Passion, creativity and selfimprovement.

I would listen to anybody talk about anything they are passionate about, and that shouldn’t just be a hospitalityindustry specific thing.

The process of creation is another incredible part of this industry. Starting from nothing and creating it into something tangible to share with the world is something amazing. While some people in hospitality might be fine with the status quo, those with passion and a drive for self-improvement are constantly challenging themselves to create not only a great product but a great experience.

YOU ENTERED THE PERFECT BLEND IN 2019. HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE?

The Perfect Blend last year was the first major cocktail competition I had ever entered,

Long Chim Perth

and I’ll be the first person to admit I went into it with an unorthodox method. I came out the other end with a completely new appreciation for the cocktail scene and in turn, my local hospitality scene. Being up on stage with a collection of some of your local hospitality family doing something you are all passionate about is something pretty special.

AND WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND OTHER BARTENDERS TO ENTER?

Competitions have come such a long way from what they used to be, from the scope, style to just the sheer number of competitors. The interest people have in these competitions is obvious. A win can mean prize money, publicity for themselves and their bar, and travel opportunities. Most importantly, competitions can further a career, either from igniting hidden passion or just purely from the knowledge gained from the experience. As long as you don’t take it to seriously and enjoy yourself, you will have a fantastic time. From my experience last year, The Perfect Blend competition is all that. It’s just some good ol’ fashion fun.

WILL WE SEE AN ENTRY IN THE 2020 COMPETITION?

Yeah buddy, let’s have some fun.

DO YOU HAVE AN INDUSTRY MENTOR, OR IS THERE SOMEONE WHO YOU LOOK UP TO IN THE INDUSTRY?

Anybody who is doing anything with passion should be looked up to. I could write a list of about 50 people who I’m currently following with a close eye. The obvious industry leaders come to mind, like Ryan Chetiyawardana, who I very bashfully went up to after The Perfect Blend Alumni Dinner at Sydney Bar Week and absolutely fangirled him. It was not my finest moment. Matt Whiley is another embarrassing hospo crush. He was one of my judges at a cocktail competition recently.

Not to knock any single person off their pedestal though, but everybody should have a multitude of people they are learning from. Every person is just another book you can soak up information from, and vice-versa.

Find out what you are passionate about, seek out the industry leaders in that field, and learn everything you can from them. There are some truly amazing people doing some truly amazing things.

IF YOU COULD DO ONE GUEST SHIFT WITH ANYONE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD IT BE AND WHO WOULD IT BE?

The new project I’m working on is opening up an amazing little venue in Perth CBD, hopefully, open by the time this magazine comes out. So this question isn’t really hypothetical, because I will just get the people who I enjoy and respect to come in and have some fun with me in my venue, and that’s what it’s really all about.

Saying that, if Ryan or Matt want a cameo shift, hit me up.