Brian Van Flandern
New York City

Hotel: The Carlyle

Bar: Bemelmans Bar

Van Flandern is a rarity among barkeeps, as his background is blue-chip Michelin (he helmed the bar when Thomas Keller’s Per Se opened in New York in 2004). It wasn’t long before such flair-filled, first-class skills led the storied Bemelmans Bar to poach him and turn over its cocktail list. Known for making food-friendly cocktails, Van Flandern likes to pay special attention to ingredients; he cooks up homemade tonic water using quinine powder imported from Brazil, and even scours the Internet for rare 19th-century bitters to use in re-creating classic recipes.

Signature Cocktail: Agave Gingerita

• 1 egg white
  
• 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
• 2 oz. Don Julio Blanco 100% Agave
• 1 oz. fresh-squeezed ginger juice
• 1/2 oz. agave nectar
• 1/16 oz. Amaretto

Shake egg white and lime juice in Boston shaker tin until frothy. Add ice and remaining ingredients and shake vigorously again. Serve in rocks glass with candied ginger garnish.

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