If youâve spent any time in Miamiâs buzzy metropolitan neighborhood, Brickell, then chances are youâve walked through (or at least passed by) the fancy velvet ropes of Sexy Fish Miami. This over-the-top hotspot is known for its elaborate under the sea-themed decor, long lines for selfies in its mosaic tile adorned bathrooms, and delicious Asian cuisine.
This month, Sexy Fish Miami, along with its sister restaurant in London, launched a new cocktail menuâa project thatâs been several months in the making. Featuring nearly two dozen cocktails, the new menu is titled âTrinityâ as it is inspired by the power of three. The concept behind this menu focuses on balancing the elements of flavor, aroma, and textureâcreating unexpected synergies made to excite the senses.
In the most extravagant launch party fashion, Sexy Fish Miami and Sexy Fish London worked with four other bars on four different continents to feature one-night-only pop ups to celebrate the launch of this new cocktail menu. Both locations hosted massive parties where attendees were given the chance to taste their way through the new show stopping cocktail menu. Additionally, the Sexy Fish team sent bartenders, ingredients, and specialty glassware around the world to award-winning bars Cause Effect in Cape Town, South Africa; EL BARĂN in Cartagena, Colombia; Re- in Sydney, Australia; and Zest in Seoul, South Korea to make it a worldwide celebration.
With 20 (16 spirited and 4 non-alcoholic) cocktails to choose from, some highlights on the sparkly new menu include the delicate and refreshing Coconut and Lemongrass made with coconut-infused Absolut Elyx Vodka, coconut, sake, lime, celery, and lemongrass; Marshmallow and Raspberry made with marshmallow-infused Roku Gin, raspberry, fortified wines, and egg white that creates frothy ruby red cocktail; and their riff on an espresso martini called Coffee and Toast thatâs made with brown butter-infused The Lost Explorer Mezcal, coffee, caramel, Campari, and manzanilla.
âOur brand-new cocktail menu is the culmination of six months of development work and is a huge passion project for all 40 of our London and Miami bartenders,â shared Xavier Landais, Director of Bars for Sexy Fish.
I chatted with Landais about the new menu and the process behind its creation. Hereâs how it went.
Amber Love Bond: This new menu is called Trinity with a focus on the power of three â can you elaborate on that?
Xavier Landais: The focus on the number three came from our original internal discussion, where we identified the three elements that make up everything we eat and drink; flavor, aroma, and texture. Each drink is based on this concept, and our challenge was to make these drinks interesting yet accessible.
ALB: The last cocktail menu also featured 20 cocktails named after two ingredients featured in them â is that a signature formula used at Sexy Fish and can you share some of the thought behind that?
XL: The concept of the last cocktail menu was synergy – the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Trinity menu is an evolution of this concept, so we have followed the naming convention accordingly. Also, being a restaurant bar, we wanted to embrace the culinary experience and bring the naming cohesiveness found on our culinary menu to our cocktail menu.
ALB: Were there certain emotions or thoughts connected to the creation of these cocktails?
XL: Absolutely, the creation of these cocktails came directly from the bar team, so each drink has a certain inspiration behind it. For example, the Sour Cream & Lime, Lucious, drew inspiration from a trip to Mexico hosted by Patron and the desire to encapsulate a memory in a glass. On the other hand, the Hojicha & Wildflower, Sparkling, originated as a way to repurpose citrus wedges.
ALB: Can you share some of what the cocktail creation process is like (since I know it’s a very long process)?
XL: The Trinity menu’s development started in Spring 2022 with initial discussions to define the concept and workshop different options. Collating the drinks between Miami & London was a new challenge, involving the bartenders creating drinks, followed by extensive tastings and feedback sessions in both locations. Once each location had its best ready, we flew the Head Bartender from Miami to our lab in London for further refinement. We conducted a final tasting to pick the perfect cocktails for both venues and the four unique cocktails specific to each location.
This new cocktail menu is presented as a beautiful, shiny hardcover book with stunning photography that matches the restaurantâs larger than life personality. While the menu is likely to last for the next year, youâre probably going to want to start drinking your way through it soon as these 20 cocktails are ones you wonât want to miss.