An Interview with Mixologist Pham Tien Tiep, La Plume Bar Hanoi

from Hotelier Indonesia Magazine

April 2016

www.hotelier-indonesia.com

full issue at:  http://www.youblisher.com/p/1459576-HOTS-APRIL-2016/

A cocktail is a work of art, with a background and a soul

Pham Tien Tiep is the epitome of the rags-to-riches success story. From a poor countryside boy to a champion bartender, his life is full of challenges and surprises.

Hotelier Indonesia Magazine
April 2016

Born in a small village at 60km from Hanoi, Pham Tien Tiep experienced a difficult childhood. At the age of 15, he left school and moved to Hanoi to find a job. He had no idea what he wanted to do, then started as a shoe shiner, a labourer in a Pho stand and a factory making T-shirt. These early work experiences went on to shape his future career in ways he could not have predicted at the time, of which his “Pho” cocktail is known as a brilliant example.

His approach to KOTO, a restaurant and training centre which provides disadvantaged youth with a two-year training program in hospitality skills and personal development saw the change of his life. He was offered a formal course in music because he used to consider himself a musician. However, working later at Le Pub, a cozy bar for foreign clientele in the heart of Hanoi’s old quarter, he found his true love for creating cocktails. He then convinced Le Club manager to promote him to the bar, where he learned how to mix drinks. Within a year he was the bar manager. Within two-year stint, craving more skills and experiences, Tiep set his sights on Angelina, a luxury Italian restaurant and bar in the Legend Sofitel Metropole Hanoi. Despite lacking a high school diploma and the requisite certificate in five-star hospitality, he was finally given this shot by promising to be the best bartender in Hanoi. After two years of work, he did what he dreamt.

In 2012, Pham Tien Tiep won the best bartender of Vietnam with his famous “Pho” cocktail and became the first Vietnamese representative to attend the Global Final of “Diageo Reserve World Class 2012” held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), with enrollment of over 50 world’s best bartenders.

Tiep created “Pho” cocktail at Sofitel Metropole Hanoi hotel, just above the war bunkers where the American musician Joan Baez sang to the guests in December 1972 as bombs fell on the city. The alcohol in the cocktail is lit on fire to represent the bombs, while spices, such as chili and cinnamon reflect the warmness of her voice.

After the success of “Pho” cocktail, came other drinks with stories that linked inextricably to the flavours, culture and history of Hanoi. One of them is “Full Moon” cocktail, recalling the dream of a little girl about her late mother. She met her mother in a full moon night and enjoyed her delicious sweet and sour fish soup. This story touched his heart because he also lost his mother since very young. “Full Moon” cocktail is flavoured with herbs and spices that make the sweet and sour fish soup and enchants cocktail’s lovers with a familiar and relaxing taste.

In 2015, Tiep joins La Plume, an elegant and intimate bar and bistro in the Press Club building, where he continues introducing a true mixology culture to cocktail lovers in Hanoi. In an atmosphere filled with Long Bien bridge’s emotions, it is fantastic to enjoy his wonderful “Under the bridge” cocktail. Based on the charming flavor of the sweet and sour fish sauce served with boiled snails, a Hanoi’s popular delicacy, the cocktail tells the difficult but joyful life of poor workers living under Long Bien bridge. The message is despite hardship, life is always beautiful.

For Tiep, a cocktail isn’t simply something to drink. “It is a work of art with a background and a soul”. This young man will keep going up to master the mixology art he has a great passion for.