Beijing Boyce

Home of the city’s biggest drink umbrellas (photo: China Doll)

China Doll, slated to open in the 3.3 building on June 19, seems determined to “sex up” the club scene (see photo below). A bigger issue for me: Will the place have good drinks?

I met bar manager Bob Louison on Monday and he guided me through a detailed spreadsheet of 17 cocktails. From fruity deck drinks and twists on martinis to intriguing blends of mango syrup and basil or hazelnut syrup and pear, the beverages -  bar staff willing - should be interesting to say the least. The menu includes 30 classic cocktails (martinis, gin tonic, and the link), more than a dozen shooters, and eight mocktails. (Expect also an extensive wine list, drawing on 10 distributors, and a beer list typical of most clubs, i.e. a handful of typical brands).

Louison, who says fresh fruit features in many cocktails, has been training his bartenders for a month at Tango. The goal: for each to be able to make any drink on the menu in 30 seconds. And he wants the bartenders to develop their own styles. “As soon as you get into China Doll and see the bartenders, you should want to keep looking at them, at the way they stand, pour, make drinks, smile,” he says.

Louison’s own love is dealing with individual customers. “When a customer asks for a drink, you have to think about whether it should be strong or sweet, the time of day, whether the customer has eaten or not, the mood, and so on,” he says. “I try to find the right drink for the right person.”

I’ve met few people as intense about cocktails as Louison – George Zhou at Q Bar comes to mind – and he spent an hour explaining how the flavors work in each drink, why a particular alcohol is used, and so on, thus boosting my cocktail IQ.

You can try his drinks as of June 19, when China Doll opens its spacious premises (save for the deck, which will likely open in August).

Expect thorough security checks at the new China Doll (photo: China Doll).