Mixing it up with the E&O alchemist

Joey Gottesman is making a mojito. A simple task, you might assume. Ernest Hemingway’s famously favorite drink requires but a few humble ingredients: mint, lime, club soda, rum, sugar and a good old muddle over ice.

But assembling ingredients is just the first part of the drink when you’re a mixologist turned “alchemist” who wants the cocktails at E&O Trading Company to be thought of as the very best in town.

“A good mojito needs 80 strokes,” says Joey. “After you muddle the fresh mint and the fresh lime, you need to infuse the alcohol - and this is the only way,” he says. He picks up a cocktail shaker and starts stroking (shaking).

If you don’t believe they take their cocktails, sorry, I mean elixirs seriously at E&O Trading Company, then I suggest you stop by for a taste. This mojito might just be the best in Honolulu, and if E&O’s owner Kenwei Chong has his way, you’ll soon be thinking mojito instead of Merlot as you sit down for dinner.

“We want to encourage people to think of these elixirs as something they can enjoy with food - something to complement the dining experience,” he says. “At the restaurant, and here at the bar, we want to be seen to offer something different and on the cutting edge. Offering these elixirs to complement our food takes us in a different direction.”

That direction includes a new late-night bar on Saturdays, a daily happy hour and a list of simply gorgeous-sounding thirst-quenching drinks - all made from scratch.

I pair food with whisky as part of my job, so I was intrigued to see what food pairings and the hand-blended, made-from-scratch-cocktails at E&O actually had to offer.

But I’m a hard sell. I am hugely respectful of pure spirits and a well-known spirit purist. I like my gin with attitude, my vodka hand-crafted, and my single malts with nothing but a trickle of Highland H20.

To be fair, most of the elixir pairings at the beautifully designed E&O are in their initial stages of creation, but some of them are coming together quite beautifully.

I tried a wonderfully refreshing salad - E &O’s braised crispy pork with pickled watermelon over mesclun greens with a hot pink watermelon cocktail that overpowered the refreshing natural sweetness of the fruit in the salad and the bite of the greens.

Great salad, but not with this drink. I’m looking for something that will make my taste buds pop. Joey creates it in the form of a Bootsie Collins. This is an almost perfectly balanced drink - and perfect with E&O’s Asian flavors. It’s made with island-grown basil, fresh limes, Bombay Sapphire and a splash of Cointreau over lots of ice. The basil is torn into shreds and then bruised into the glass, releasing its flavor and infusing the alcohol. The pale green color is instantly appealing, and the cocktail is mouthwateringly good with food. In fact, you could probably order a Bootsie Collins or an E&O mojito and happily eat almost anything on the menu. We try it with some mussels and naan bread and it works really well too. It works with the chicken satay sticks and the calamari, and I’d be happy working my way through the entire menu to find a dish it does-n’t complement. O.K, maybe not the short ribs. With short ribs you gotta have that big, bold, raucous red wine - don’t you?

For your own menu pairings, consult the E&O Trading Company Elixir menu, available through lunch and dinner and late night on Saturdays, or ask Joey to make you a cocktail to suit your mood.

Don’t be surprised if you love the results.

E&O Trading Company 1200 Ala Moana Blvd No. 2 591-9555

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