Joseph Boroski

HONG KONG JOSEPH BOROSKI

New Yorker Joseph Boroski is one of Asia’s most acclaimed bartenders and consultants in addition to operating a bartending school in Bangkok. Drinks World caught up with Joseph to talk about his latest venture, J Boroski - a venue that brings one of the most enigmatic and creative cocktail spaces to Hong Kong with a cocktail concierge service.

DRINKS WORLD: You hail from New York, how did you end up in Asia, what brought you specifically to Hong Kong?

JOSPEH BOROSKI: I was doing a bunch of cocktail pairings with some famous chefs in America for events around the country and one of the organisers was actually based in Bangkok at the time. They were setting up kind of a tour with some of the chefs I was working with and asked me to join the tour to pair some cocktails with the chefs. So I ended up coming out to Asia and doing the tour. Afterwards, I ended up getting a lot of enquiries about coming back to venues we were working at to do training with the staff and to refresh their menu, so I ended up getting a lot of consulting jobs through that. I was flying back and forth from New York and I ended up realising that it would be better if I had a base in Asia.

DW: Is a concierge service for drinks something that you have experienced in other bars or cities?

JB: Not specifically what we’re doing at J. Boroski. It is derived from some experiences that I’ve had before, but it’s also derived from some ideas that I had to make things a little bit more original and unique. I wanted to make sure that what I was offering was going to be something that people wouldn’t come across generally, and I think it’s still pretty hard pressed for anyone to have the same kind of experience anywhere. Part of the cocktail concierge service is being able to create something for someone based on his or her preferences. And we go in one of two directions with that; we ask the guest if they would prefer something more spirit forward, which would be your chosen spirit enhanced with other additional ingredients, or something more fresh based, which would be made using several of our freshly prepared ingredients that would be backed up by your chosen spirit or we can choose the spirit if guests would like us to. They’re essentially the two types of drinks that we do. So that combined with some other different personal touches, and the way that Ashley Sutton and I have done the bar is in a way so that it’s very intimate, and all that combined creates that personal concierge cocktail service.

DW: What was the inspiration behind opening J. Boroski, a venue that offers a concierge service where entry is invite only?

JB: The inspiration was no inspiration originally. I opened a school for bartenders in Bangkok and I was open for nearly two years when I thought it would be a good idea to have a little bar space within that school because I was inviting guests in every once in a while on a weekend to try some drinks made by the students while they were progressing. I always like to get behind the bar as well when I’m training. The space itself was very much like a cooking school, it was all stainless steel and very sterile. But it wasn’t something that really lent itself to just chilling out, having a cocktail and staying for a while so people would come and have a drink or two and that was working for what it was, but I wanted something that was a little more intimate and comfortable. Ashley Sutton, who I had been working with for many years, and

who has been a good friend of mine for quite a while now kept saying to me that he wanted to design a bar based around what I do. He’s an exceptional designer and a genius at what he does. I didn’t want to have a bar actually, I knew all the problems that occur with bars and all the different risks involved. So when I did say I wanted the bar space at my school I asked him to go in and do that for me while I was in New York working on a project for a couple of months. And actually unbeknownst to me he kind of totally disassembled my school and moved all my stations upstairs, luckily I have multiple levels in that space, and totally redesigned the entire space, so the bar that we agreed on was supposed to be a fraction of what it turned into (this is my Bangkok bar by the way). When I came back, I was more than shocked and it put a dent in our relationship and we didn’t talk for a few months.

So I ended up inviting people to come into the space because it was there and obviously I was going to have to do something with it and I didn’t want to just clear it out as it’s a beautiful and stunning space. So people came in and my students made drinks, and I made drinks and people wanted to come back again the next day and bring more friends and it rolled on from there. So I started opening three times a week, and turned into opening every night. It was kind of an accident more than anything else, although I’m sure Ashley intended it to be a bar.

DW: Why did you choose Hong Kong as a location to do a concierge service venue?

JB: I decided that Hong Kong would be an exceptional spot for this concept because the people of Hong Kong, for quite some time now, are familiar with luxurious and exceptional service. There are a lot of luxury brands here and great style and fashion as well. The guests that I am actually getting are people that appreciate good quality things and luckily I am seeing that and that’s why I think Hong Kong works really well for this kind of an idea.

DW: How has the response to J. Boroski been thus far?

JB: Thankfully, it’s been really good. I’ve received some really amazing personal emails and feedback from people that have come in saying, “Wow, this is really great, I’m glad that you’re doing this and I’m glad there’s people really kind of thinking outside of the box and making an experience that’s not as familiar as most are”. There are some really great spots in Hong Kong that are opening and definitely some key players in the industry that are turning things on its head. I’ve been getting a great response and I’m happy to hear that people love it, so I hope it will continue.

DW: With J. Boroski creating cocktails to the tastes of guests, how does the preparation and service differ, in your opinion, to a traditional cocktail bar?

JB: I like to refer to J. Boroski as a “Creative cocktail space”. In fact I tell the team to not use the word bar unless we’re specifically talking about the bar itself in the space, because to me it’s more of an “anti-bar” - a friend of mine coined that term and I just grabbed onto it. It really is something that is different than what you normally get in a bar. With this concept, you’re not looking at something and trying to compare this and that. So what we do, in some ways, is eliminate the choice and then we add a much greater selection. So it’s going in two different directions in that way and it’s really something quite different.

DW: Do you see this as the future of cocktails bars, where bartenders tailor drinks to the taste of each individual guest, rather than offering a menu or list of drinks?

JB: I think it very well can be, I haven’t actually thought of that as something that could take off. Considering that there are exponentially more career bartenders than there were before and that continues to grow, and bartenders are really focused on doing the best job they can at making the best possible product, I think that it can be very likely that it will happen more and more. Even with bars with menus now, people go to the bar and they might know the bartender or they might know that someone there makes good drinks and they’ll just say, “Hey, you know what, can you just do something for me on your own today?” The more that people can trust the bartender to do that, the more I think that will happen and that can also be a part of the regular offering at bars, regardless of whether they have a menu or not. Whether that’s the future of cocktail bars, maybe but I couldn’t really say.

DW: In addition to operating bars and being a mixology consultant, you have a bar and hospitality school. How are you managing your time these days, and where are you spending most of your time?

JB: Haha, the answer to that question can change on a regular basis. I’m spending half of my time in Hong Kong, so I’m committed to really making sure that the venue is going really well, that the team is really progressing, and that people are continuing to have a really original and great experience here.

Beyond that I do, as mentioned, have a school in Bangkok. My main business continues to be consulting with other venues, groups, brands and hotels. I have quite a lot projects going until the end of the year, and into next year as well. The only difference now is that I’m a little more grounded because I am in one spot for half of my time, which I’d say a couple of years ago was not the case, although I still do travel a lot.