Bartenders

Edible Cocktails

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I’ve been looking through the archive lately and recently came across some images I made for a special edition Drink Issue of Edible Boston way back in 2014.  The article by writer Luke O’Neil is about the creative connection between the kitchen and the bar at upscale restaurants around Boston.

Cocktail at Sarma Boston by beverage photographer Adam DeTour

While it may seem like an obvious connection, Not too long ago bars and kitchens had an often adversarial relationship, particularly when it came to bars pilfering ingredients and not replacing them, or kitchens being stingy with the supply. There was also a more substantial standoff at work in the bad old days of drinking, as Charles Draghi, chef and owner of Erbaluce explains. "For a chef, I was never a fan of cocktails, like a lot of chefs.  It used to mean a war between the bar and customer's palate and what a chef was trying to do." Too many cocktails, before the current resurgence, were cloyingly sweet, or else overpoweringly alcoholic. You wouldn't want a diner to be drinking mudslides, say, or straight vodka martinis before a nice meal. But that all changed when bartenders and chefs realized they could work together to enhance the entire experience from first sip, on through the meal, and to the after dinner drink.

Portrait of Charles Draghi of Erbaluce Boston holding a pumpkin photographed by Boston food photographer Adam DeTour for Edible Boston Magazine

For the story I was able to travel around to a wide variety of restaurants in the Boston area and photograph the drinks with their culinary counterpoints as well as some portraits of the folks involved. And, of course, I may have sampled a few of the beverages (benefits of being a Boston food photographer!)

Pumpkin Bellini photographed by beverage photographer Adam DeTour for Edible Boston

One shoot in particular ended up being special for me. I brought my girlfriend Maria (now my wife) to the shoot at Erbaluce, and she ended up styling the pumpkin bellini shot for me. I think Chef Charles Draghi caught on that I was trying to impress her and treated us to a full dinner after the shoot.

Cocktail shot overhead at Shojo Boston for Edible Cocktails story in Edible Boston photographed by food photographer Adam DeTour

Portrait of bartender Vikram Hegde of Sarma in Somerville, MA by portrait photographer Adam DeTour

Cocktail at Shojo Boston for Edible Cocktails story in Edible Boston photographed by food photographer Adam DeTour

Portrait of Markus Yao for Edible Cocktails article in Edible Boston photographed by food photographer Adam DeTour

Cocktail from the Ledge in Boston photographed by food photographer Adam DeTour

Portrait of John Comeau at the Ledge in Dorchester Lower Mills

What strikes me now, ten plus years after photographing these images, is how they really show the beginning of the graphic style that I still work in today.  In some ways they are even more care free than how I shoot today (Want to splash a little beet juice on a crisp white table linen at a fine dining restaurant? Go for it!).

Ceia Kitchen cocktail and food by Boston photographer Adam DeTour

Smoked whiskey at the Blue Ox in Lynn by food and beverage photographer Adam DeTour

Portrait of Charlie Gaeta for edible boston magazine by portrait photographer Adam DeTour

Check more of my restaurant, bar, and cocktail photography here.