In a world where cocktails are muddled, Barmini stands alone. (Kind of.)
The reservations-only boite, attached to José Andrés’s gastronomic stunner, Minibar, opens Friday.
The star of the show is an innovative lab serving a cavalcade of 100 sips to 30 patrons at a time. Special effects are worth a double take: a slick of sweet-spicy Viking syrup in the Scandinavian Cup, Rye Here’s Kasteel cherry beer and barrel-aged bitters, a mescal marshmallow on the lip of the whiskey-laced Big in Japan.
Barcelona interior/industrial designer Juli Capella’s white-on-white set has colorful punches of lunacy (greenery wall, apple chair). Perch on a front-row stool or dare to sit on a Cerruti Baleri cactus couch.
The supporting cast includes a handsaw for carving ice, inventive snacks like butternut squash meringue and caramelized sea urchin buns, and Roto-Vat — an evaporator used to make a peanut elixir.
Rated M for mind-blowing.
Barmini by José Andrés, 855 E Street Northwest, at 9th Street (202-393-4451). Reservations will be taken starting Friday at minibarbyjoseandres.com.
Photo: Ken Wyner / Courtesy of Barmini








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