Amico’s Bar: 51 High Street, Ingatestone, Essex (25 Mins from London Liverpool Street)
Prior to opening Amico’s bar in Essex earlier this year, BarLifeUK readers would probably know Dan Dove from his tenure as the UK face of Diageo’s World Class competition. Travelling around the UK visiting bars, meeting bartenders, and judging World Class heats must have been perfect inspiration-fodder, because by all accounts, Amico’s is a lovely place to eat and drink.
On the 25th October, Amico’s opened their Ketel One Edible Garden, a bespoke cocktail menu that will be presented in the form of a gardener’s notebook. As balmy as the UK’s weather has been this year, October may seem an odd month to launch any sort of garden, let alone one that promises to deliver fresh, home-grown ingredients on a daily basis. And this is where things get interesting, as sitting at the heart of the garden is a newly-installed Evogro system.
Restaurants, such as Fera at Claridges, and The West House, have been using the Evogro system for some time, but to our knowledge, Amico’s is the first bar to use one in-house to produce ingredients and garnishes. Evogro employs LED lighting and hydroponics to easily grow plants of high and consistent quality, all year round. The team at Amico’s are using the system to grow plants and herbs such as red komatsuna, curled chervil, lemon gem tagetes, bulls blood beet, and red garnet amaranth.
The Ketel One Edible Garden menu will change each month, and will include cocktails such as the Red Rubin Basil, a classic based on the flavours of homemade pesto, and the Red Komatsuna, a drink of sweet nutty combinations which highlights Ketel One Vodka’s citrus and honey notes.
David Beatty, Europe Brand Ambassador for Ketel One Vodka, commented on the partnership: “The Amico’s Bar and Ketel One Vodka Edible Garden is a unique and exciting proposition that is enabling us to grow some of the most rare and unique plants in the world, and explore the delicious possibilities of how can they be incorporated into modern cocktails.”
The Ketel One Edible Garden at Amico’s is open now. Visit the Amico’s website for details and to plan a visit.