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Zagat Editor Kelly Dobkin caught up with Dave Arnold, the inventor and partner Booker and Dax at Momofuku Ssam Bar at 207 2nd Avenue in Manhattan, to hear his new high-tech ways of cooking up drinks.

"The concept behind Booker and Dax is to use the newest techniques and technology to produce cocktails but not necessarily cocktails that look new or look different," says Arnold. "We don’t want to change the way drinkers drink, we want to change the way we work behind the bar.

"One of the things we use that isn’t necessarily 'normal' equipment in most cocktail bars is
liquid nitrogen. We don’t use it to chill drinks, we use it to chill glasses. We also have a rotary evaporator which we use to make very pure distillations. Our drink, 'Lady of the Night,' has rotovap horseradish in it which I really enjoy. 'Lady of the Night' is basically a take on a Bloody Mary but completely clarified so it’s very pure tasting and very clear. It has the flavors of a bloody mary but is really an evening cocktail - that’s why we call it Lady of the Night. I think it really shows what we can do in terms of making something that tastes classic but using new techniques.

"Another drink that I love is the French Colombian which combines the idea of kind of a hot aguardiente drink you might get in Colombia with this French ingredient, Pernod. To really kick it off I used this tool called the 'red hot poker' that is so hot that it literally ignites the drink. So instead of tasting like straight anise, it tastes very candied, almost like a Good ‘N Plenty.

"There’s a picture of me in the space catching on fire. I was doing art at the time and Dave Chang said, ‘Can I get a copy of that picture to put in our new Milk Bar space?' I said, ‘Sure.’ I had no idea I’d ever have a bar in that space.

"Most people would describe us as a technology-focused bar, I would say that we are a bar that serves delicious drinks in a friendly and non-pretentious atmosphere," says Arnold.