AS I SIT ACROSS from her at the bar, Celia Schoonraad hands me a drink, from which I take a slight first sip. The next is longer, deeper, more intentional, and stops time for a while. In a flash, I'm reminded of a line David Foster Wallace wrote that memorialised an epiphany he had after witnessing Roger Federer's luminous performance at the 2005 U.S. Open:
"Beauty is not the goal of competitive sports, but high-level sports are a prime venue for the expression of human beauty."
At this new iteration of DeadFall, I have front row seats to the realisation that even if cocktail making does not necessarily aspire to the loftiness of Beauty, it most definitely serves as a head-turning form of it.
Especially if it's a Buttered Paloma.
The drink belongs to a roster of drinks that bow at the altar of agave and lead the palate into vast and varied vistas of discovery and sumptuousness. Every sip from this payload honours the literal and figurative facelift the stalwart trio of Schoonraad, Michael Callahan, and Roman Foltán have bestowed upon the newly unveiled space. No longer is DeadFall the foundation atop which Barbary Coast, Boat Quay's epicentre of buzz and after-hours revels beckons - it's a cantina, a portal into heady, flawless and ingeniously forged edible and drinkable charms, Mexico-facing but world-destined.
A glow, in amber-tinged hues of green and gold, falls over the bar at all times. The source of this are the 72 bottles of agave spirits that cannot be found anywhere else in Singapore. For this and reasons you can see, taste and feel, DeadFall is a haven for a particular and powerfully resonant slice of culture.
In Agave We Trust
Before I absorb the result of their wandwave, I ask Schoonraad and Callahan about the essence of their magic: why agave?
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 205 (September 2024) من August Man SG.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 205 (September 2024) من August Man SG.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
The One That Started It All
Girard-Perregaux celebrates 49 years of the Laureato, the timepiece that helped to kick-start the popularity of steel sports timepieces.
Return To Mont Blanc
Wes Anderson Brought US To Montblanc's Fictional Headquarters Several Months Ago. Now, He Shows Us More From The Collection.
Manners Maketh Man
The Principle Of Style Is Character, And The Core Of Character Is Conduct.
Slow Travel In Switzerland
The Swiss public transport system certainly aces the luxe factor with eye popping train rides, indulgent multi-course meals on a Belle Epoque era steamship, and even efficient luggage transport services.
A NEW DAWN IN SOLAR ENERGY
AUGUSTMAN SPEAKS TO MANDALA CLUB CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER LILLY GILBERT ABOUT THE MOVEMENT THAT COULD CHANGE HOW BUSINESSES IN KEONG SAIK ARE POWERED THE MANDALA SOLAR COLLECTIVE.
THE POWER OF THREE
ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC IMAGES IN SINGAPORE TOOK THE FORM OF KOKILA PARVATHI, SITI AMIRAH (ALSO KNOWN AS CAMIRA ASRORI) AND SOBIKUN NAHAR ON THEIR WAY TO COURT. AUGUSTMAN SPEAKS TO THEM ABOUT THEIR IDEAS ON COMMUNITY ORGANSING, AND ABOUT RETHINKING OUR THOUGHTS ON POWER.
FLIGHT OF THE NARISAWA BEE
The esteemed Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa shares with us the intimate details of his brand's expansion into Singapore and what having the Mandala Club as its permanent address means to him.
DRINK THROUGH SPACE AND TIME
Preferably with a dram of The Macallan, in hand. The famed whisky maker celebrates 200 years of making perfection.
AND BUTCHER'S BLOCK MAKES IT THREE
SINGAPORE'S CHAPTER OF THE DOM PÉRIGNON SOCIETY HAS INDUCTED A THIRD MEMBER, RAFFLES SINGAPORE'S BUTCHER'S BLOCK, GIVING DISCERNING DINERS BETTER ACCESS TO THE EPICUREAN SAVOIR FAIRE THAT COMES WITH THE MARK OF THE SOCIETY.
AMERICAN SPIRIT
ROB SAMUELS, THE EIGHTH-GENERATION WHISKY-MAKER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MAKER'S MARK, EXPLAINS WHY THE BRAND'S CELLAR AGED EXPRESSION IS A PEAK INTO THE FUTURE OF BOURBON.