Behind the Bar Alchemy
At No Goodbyes at the Line DC, niche spirits and liqueurs aren’t sourced—they’re made.
Babbo Spritz: Pink Lemon Aperitivo, Prosecco, Soda Water, Orange Peel at No Goodbyes at The Line DC | Photos: WilL Blunt
When you’re the only bar in the hotel, you need every customer to feel welcomed. “Everything needs to be fairly approachable on the level of how the menu looks and how the drinks land,” says Bartender Lukas B. Smith, who designed the cocktail program at No Goodbyes at The Line DC.
With his distilling background and creative free rein, he’s able to make high-concept cocktails approachable. Smith and his team construct many of their own syrups, liqueurs, vermouths, and more in house. “Ideally by crafting these ingredients on the back end, we can create interesting finishes or an intriguing element, but you don't need to understand what it is in order to enjoy it,” he says.
Smith, who has been a consultant at No Goodbyes since late spring 2021, deploys a few tried-and-true techniques. “I’m technically a consultant, but I have a lab here,” he says. “I use a vacuum set-up to run filtrations using the so-called Büchner funnel,” creating clear ingredients that look like the professional-grade ones found in a typical backbar. He also vacuum concentrates juices, nut milks, and orgeat, and there’s lots of fermentation. “We do autolytic conversions as well, using koji and enzymes. You name it, really, we’re doing that,” Smith says.
Bartender Lukas B. Smith at No Goodbyes at The Line DC
Negroni: Gin, Fino Sherry, House Vermouth, Campari, Narutotai “Ginjo” Nama Genshu Sake
Drinks rotate on and off the menu each month. The Memento Awamori, with aged sake, aged koji rice-sweet potato mirin, and cold brew, appears only when Smith has the right ingredients available. Even if it’s not on the menu, a customer can always get the negroni. The Mezcalculation—the drink most representative of Smith’s philosophy—will be there as long as he is. Made with mezcal, pisco-lime cordial, and lime, it’s a mezcal gimlet—on paper. But that cordial, made with Torontel pisco, sets it apart. “Torontel gives you these big lime, green apple, kiwi notes,” says Smith. He chose pisco for its aromatic, early run distillation characteristics that allow a distilled aroma to shine. Mezcal, however, gets more interesting the deeper it’s distilled, when the flavor and texture emerge. “Pisco is front of distillation, mezcal is middle and late distillation, and so I call it a full spectrum cocktail,” says Smith.
“On the one hand everyone likes to drink it because it’s a balanced gimlet, but for those in the know, they’re realizing they’re experiencing something novel,” he adds. “And that’s really my style at the hotel in a nutshell.”
