My final look at the Aviary

The Aviary will without a doubt be the most innovative, interactive, and disaplined bar in the country, if not the entire world. I was given an education like no other. I am so grateful to the entire Aviary staff. Thank you Nick Kokonas, Grant Achatz, Craig Schoettler, and Greg Buttera for allowing me to be a part of this surreal opportunity.



It all starts with a plan








A few of the Aviary crew catch a first look at the "bar"





Each "chef" will have their own private station. Although unlike every other bar in the world, there mise en place is placed directly in front of them.


The breathe taking, unbelievably gorgeous kitchen of Next

A field trip to the Koval distillery!

The entire staff was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and family oriented. The family truly cared about their product and customers. Thank you so much for letting us take a tour of your facility!





The Koval's column still


The saved heads and tails


Several of the awards and grains used in the Koval products.

Handcrafting creativity at Crucial detail

I had the pleasure of working on several of Aviary's service pieces as well as some ice molds at Crucial detail. I worked for the master of design Martin Kastner and a few of his highly skilled crew. Martin brought to Alinea (and the dining world for that matter) things that no one had ever dreamed of. Gorgeous functional service pieces built by hand. Working there was a combination of ceramics and wood-shop an experience i will never forget. Thank you, Martin and Thomas for letting me be apart of this project.



One of the many ice molds


Each pin was carefully placed into the mold to allow the liquid to drain through, and ready the mold to be re-casted


2,000+ pins later the mold was ready


After the CNC did its magic


Each porthole was to be sanded and toasted to achieve a smooth base


A prototype of the "porthole"


Because each piece is custom designed they must be casted using plaster and slip


Each plaster mold is smoothed out to prevent any chance of factors


Firing the "cups"


The finished prototype

Aviary, the beginning

A text book, guide, and novel to all things cocktail. Its were we all began.


Sampling a few Amaros


Just as a Chef must taste his ingredients, so did the Aviary


A tasting of orange cordials


Several juices and syrups ready for mixing. Juices and syrups including: lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, simple syrup (50 brix), demerara, orgeat, raspberry, and cranberry to name a few.




What would soon be 14 different blueberry sodas.

Each containing different ratios of Blueberry to H2O, Brix and PH levels