Drink Dapper

Bartender Christian Gaal is a vision of sartorial sipping splendor.

by Felicia D'Ambrosio

Michael Persico MISTER CHRISTIAN: Gaal pours up a Blood & Sand behind the bar at Noble: An American Cookery. The 27-year-old mixologist designed the cocktail list at the new Sansom Street bar and restaurant.

[ cocktails ]

Christian Gaal has yet to find the ideal sleeve garters. Since shirts now come in a variety of sleeve lengths, the circa-19th-century shortening securers just aren't stocked in every general mercantile, even in a big city like Philadelphia. Thankfully, the wax that keeps the barkeep's mustache exuberantly styled is readily available.

Gaal is known both for his beyond-retro look and encyclopedic knowledge of cocktail lore, dispensed as he concocts adult beverages from a boggling array of obscure liqueurs at APO Bar + Lounge (102 S. 13th St.) and the newly opened Noble: An American Cookery (2025 Sansom St.).

The 27-year-old Astoria, Queens, native entered the bar business just two and a half years ago, mixing up Bloody Marys at what was then known as Sansom Street Oyster House. "I started reading my friend's cocktail books on the side," says Gaal, "and soon some of my bar customers were drinking what I was reading. I remember one dining regular who was continually in a state of 'Yes!' since she found out I could do a job on a Negroni [gin, sweet vermouth, bitters]. I know it sounds simplistic, but people can taste the difference, man."

But Gaal was not always a bar bon vivant. Five years ago, when he left employment in the offices of nonprofits in NYC to move to Philadelphia, the only work he found was at Wawa. Education in the classics at prep school did not prepare him for the gig. "One of the few things I prided myself on was being able to guess peoples' cigarette brands to 80 percent accuracy," he says. Gaal burned his name tag after six months and took up the black "scruffy bartender dude" attire at Sansom Street. His impeccable, now-signature style of dress — vest, a well-tied tie and those garters — evolved later, during the early days of APO, as a way to honor the bartending traditions that preceded him. "I have my lazy days when I wear shorts and a T-shirt, but given clean laundry, I dress up a bit," Gaal says. "It just makes me feel good."

A "conspicuous facility" with the English language matches his fashion sense — his vocabulary is strong, to put it lightly." I went to fancy prep schools, so this is how I talk," says Gaal. "If my verbiage is a bit florid, I apologize. It's just one of those things. I try to make myself understood, which is everyone's common plight and part of the human condition."

But whether he calls them "soporific draughts" or just "drinks," Gaal's liquid creations communicate tastes as decisively as their creator selects his watch chains. The barkeep updates pre-Prohibition drink recipes, like Noble's Blood & Sand, by slashing sugar content. (See the recipe at left.) "These are a little bit different from classic recipes," he explains. "I feel that almost every recipe works better less sweet. ... I have a propensity for drier cocktails." While assembling the Scotch, sweet Italian vermouth, orange juice and Cherry Heering for the drink, Gaal turns nearly professorial.

"Blood and Sand was a silent Rudolph Valentino film of the '20s," he says. "Valentino played a bullfighter, hence the name, but the cocktail is often falsely associated with Hemingway." Gaal included his drier version of the classic on Noble's cocktail list, which he designed, as an option for brown-liquor fans who typically switch to gin when temperatures climb. "There are options in brown liquor perfectly suited to warm climates and lighter, summery food."

Since high proof can obscure nuanced flavors in food, Gaal takes pains to construct drinks that complement, rather than demolish, dinner. "All of the cocktails at Noble are made with food in mind," he states. "The Blood & Sand works well with summer salads, poultry ... the citrus pairs well with fish, either grilled or au poivre. There's enough flavor for meat here, it's just a bit light."

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Adding fresh-squeezed juices, liqueurs and fortified wines to the hard stuff soothes the burn and creates layered flavors. The results are multidimensional mixtures that invite drinkers to actually taste their booze. The malty, musty Scotch base of the Blood & Sand is enlivened by orange juice and the caramelized oils of an orange peel garnish Gaal dramatically flames over the finished drink.

While the classics will always have a place on Gaal's drink lists, he also spends much of his time inventing modern potions tailored to the season and current food menu, tempered by the whims of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board that modify his bar stock daily. A recent creation, the Alaska Man's Luck, was designed to advance the American theme at Noble. Inspired by Hjalmar Rutzebeck's 1920 book of the same name, this clear mixture blends Scandinavian aquavit, South American pisco and local honey in the same way that America has assimilated influences from all over the world. The sharply anise-flavored aquavit (which, in Gaal's opinion, requires serious "testicular fortitude" to drink straight) and boozy BarSol pisco, a Peruvian take on brandy, are mellowed by the addition of Noilly Prat dry vermouth, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, Lancaster spring blossom honey and dashes of orange bitters. Gaal suggests it as a pairing for fish, in lieu of dessert, or as an apertif or digestif.

In the future, Gaal plans to produce more than just beverages. "Bars are what I do," he says. "I have loose plans to open up a bar within the next few years, but these days, who has that kind of cash lying around? It's hard enough to open up a pack of cigarettes in this town. And the PLCB has got to simmer down, I'll tell you that."

Complete immersion in one's profession is admirable — but what does the barkeep do in his rare time off? "The other way I get my kicks is singing," says Gaal. "I always wanted to be a crooner."

(felicia.dambrosio@citypaper.net)