a pop up life (days and nights at stav B's liquor bar): November 2011

Tuesday 29 November 2011

UNION gallery and CARTER

on friday night, i packed the car with three boxes and few bottles of alcohol and liqueurs and fruit and glassware, picked up some bourbon and grenadine on the way, ordered some ice, as i had stopped on a red light and carried it all two flights of stairs to set the bar up in a beautiful and spacious loft in east london's teesdale street, above the union gallery.

it was for art. carter gallery around the corner hosted my friend sarah baker's show le fan fan and whose idea was to have cocktail in the finishing party and as i always like to be involved in interesting and alternative happenings, i naturally said yes!

from my previous experience with bright light bright light event, i decided not to go overboard with stock and use my existing, as i am getting the hang of it and have plenty left; business woman, innit? more like little money, plenty of brains! ha!

the list contained gin daiquiri, which, as i have said before, an exquisite drink and a total joy to make, ginger mai tai, with ginger sirop i wanted to get rid of, giving it a delicious kick for the sweet tooth and perfect manhattan, because i knew a lot of folk, sarah included, were bourbon drinkers!

i did not expect to be as busy as i was and since i was on my own, i had total control , everyone got served as quickly as possible and i had compliments, made a new contact, less stock and money in the till!

i was listening to bittersweet symphony for the second time as i was clearing up, which put a smile in my face, for reasons all mine to relish...

preparing the winterball soiree with abundant passion and excitement; let the new challenge begin...

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Thursday 24 November 2011

red gallery

on tuesday 15 november 2011, 4 days before the celebration on my bar's one year and two months anniversary, an event, which i worked very hard to put together, after meetings and ideas thrown around and endless wordplay, in doug's busy living room, or by phone, or at chaat, our totally favourite bangladeshi restaurant, i was called to be told, that there was another event happening on that same night, as mine!! money talks?... should it?...

for those who know me, could foretell my reaction, for those who don't, can just imagine...

but i have said it before and i'm saying it again, when one door closes, another opens and i bid farewell to slaughterhouse, for having the bar and me and the people under its arched roof, for this journey is now complete... thank you...

i spent a day, licking my wounds, after talking to a couple of close friends and wondering, when i am going to be finally understood... a fact, which is pushing me further to my destiantion: of getting a place of my own, my own door and all the wealth of ideas and liquid, under its own roof! yummy dream, determined to be made reality!

the following day and after a chance encounter with an old friend on tuesday night at work and a lot of thinking, planning, telephoning and being on the verge of either cancelling, or going ahead with it, the place was found and booked!

i would never cancel, but i did consider it...

red gallery in shoreditch is predominantly an art venue with a bookshop, a ground floor room, which i got, warm (so important, as it is getting colder and colder in this town), with lights and an adequate sound system and a projector, too and a huge warehouse space in the basement with a great capacity and plenty of potential, which hosts all sorts of events, club nights and private views and of course, i had been to both more than once...

steep in price, for my budget, but totally worth it, as the loacation was perfect and easy to get to, had everything in it, so i would not run around to get equipment and again, it was warm and intimate...

my fairy lights were gracing parts of the room, two red lights were focusing on the live performers, the decks and cdjs were exuding fantastic tunes from the 50s till the present day and the projector was showing, in a loop, a small gem, with all the artwork, photographs and a long list of everyone who have contributed in the development and continuation of the bar and let me tell you, the list is loooong!!!! up soon!

doug and i had discussed elvis, as a loose theme, with all its americana glory, tackiness, permanence, parody, beauty and legend...

the menus looked like record sleeves and the special drinks i devised, held titles from 'the king's' songs:

one night with you was definitely a winner with dark rum and mango
a little less conversation was a vodka or gin drink with pomegranate
devil in disguise was a variation of a rusty nail, but with bourbon, instead of scotch and a generous amount of tabasco and
burning love was a tequila based drink with cassis...

i kept the classics, but twisted their names:
old fashioned jambalaya, with my signature apricot jam
and choca hula, as a chocolate manhattan

so much fun!

free mulled wine
constant filming, which i cannot wait to see
photographs
compering
live drawing of people's faces
live music
djs
lots of drinking and dancing and cheering and celebrating
busy busy busy bar

so, on saturday 19 november 2011, i celebrated with a fantastic team of people, talented and loving and a beautiful and large amount of customers, which included friends and strangers, stav B's liquor bar one year and two months anniversary! 14 months of conceiving, little money, constant thinking, revising, changing, discovering, devising, mixing, learning, fucking up, serving, satisfying, creating and growing! 14 months of slapping, kissing, losing, finding, kneeling and getting up! 14 months of business... to be continued older and stronger...

many thanks to all who have supported this project and continue to do so... it means a lot...

special thanks to that night's team: doug, andre, meg, hannah, jan, hildy, max, heather http://heatherxnelson.blogspot.com, christa, fahmida, brian, stelli, stclaire, yardas, greg amd marc...

please watch this space for the winter ball soiree, the xmas version! lush, posh and delightful!

'strictly come darling'...

peace and cheers...