Welcome to Door74. We are delighted that you could make it.This is a good bar for sitting with your friends and talking, while enjoying excellent classic cocktails. The music we play is always at background volume, so you can enjoy your conversation without having to raise your voice. The drinks are seriously good and seriously classy, but this is not a place to debate how long you should stir an Old Fashioned. This is a bar. Drink what you like, but we recommend cocktails above all. Our list is small but beautiful, and we trust you will ask the bartender for a suggestion. We always advise ordering the Cocktail of the Day. Who knows when it will be available again? We do not have: bad attitudes, a lack of patience, a door charge, a toilet charge, a wardrobe charge, any drinks companies paying us to stock crap brands, any products designed to appeal to the kind of people who watch more than one reality-TV show, untrained bartenders, energy drinks, low prices, loud music, tea or coffee, the policy of jamming as many people into the space as humanely possible, any problem with a beer and a shot of booze, any time for Paris Hilton*, too-small rocks glasses, too-large cocktail glasses, brandy snifters, sweetened cranberry juice, much vodka at all, neon straws (unless it’s Tiki Night), disco cocktails, small measures, any outstanding warrants for our arrest**, any desire to make non-alcoholic cocktails, or a bar mascot (although we’d quite like to have a sloth). We do have: Friendly staff, fast bartenders, double-frozen Hoshizaki ice for shaking and stirring, enormous globes of ice for liquor on the rocks, glassware freezers left, right and center, gorgeous liquor brands you’ll rarely see anywhere else (because they don’t have the money to buy their space on the back bar), faith in humanity, belief in the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, years and years and years of experience, a deep and abiding love of good liquor, great cocktails and lasting friendships, enough bitters to make Harry Johnson giggle like a fool, a tailor, owners who work almost every shift themselves, a belief that good drinks matter and grown-up people enjoy them, decent late-night snacks, excellent wines and beers, seats for everyone, late opening hours, a day off occasionally, and a lot of time for you. Thanks for coming. * Except for Mr. Duff. ** Except for Mr. Duff, again The House Rules of door 74 We’re not strict about very much, however life has to have some rules, otherwise you might as well go and live in France. Here are ours. The Golden Rule: Behave as ladies and gentlemen. - Please don’t be loud, rude, or annoying. Especially, don’t try to “hit on” or pick up” other guests. And gentlemen: remove your hats. Thank you. - This is a bar, not your place of work: kindly relax. Please don’t use your mobile phone, laptop or PDA. If it is truly unavoidable, then do so only in the restrooms. You may see the staff using their phones and computers; that is because this is their place of work. - Enjoy our superb cocktails, but remember this is a bar, not a temple to drinks-related nerdiness. If you find yourself being overly picky or nerdy, please ask the bartender for a glass of cold beer with a shot of good booze on the side. Drink them both. That should fix you. - Please entrust any weapons you may be carrying to the bartender. Revolvers must have the hammer down on an empty chamber, automatics must have the clip removed and blades must be sheathed. - If you care to smoke, please do so outside Bar Feijoa, just a couple of meters further up the road, on the corner. door 74 is supposed to be hard to find. - For the same reason, please say your goodbyes and arrange your trip onwards before you leave us. Thank you. The Door 74 Autumn Cocktail Suggestions On Board Yacht Marmion all cocktails € 9,50 On Board Yacht Marmion Our suggestions this autumn are derived from, or inspired by, the writings of the late Mr. Charles Henry Baker, Jr, of Florida. The next update kicks in around 15 December, by the way. Fizz à la Violette, Cairo. Old Tom gin, Crème de Violette, egg white, citrus, cream and soda. We are most pleased to have a superb Old Tom gin in house (ask the bartender if you can touch the label) This drink from Mr. Ahmed Sollman of Cairo swaps Violette into a Ramos, both as ingredient and, intriguingly, as perfume. Charles Henry Baker Jr. was the greatest bartender that never was - a bartender, that is. After a dull life in a dull office job, he used an inheritance to travel the world extensively from the 1930s onwards, often to places still largely unexplored today. Everywhere he went, he drank the local cocktails and recorded them in his books Jigger, Beaker & Glass: The Gentleman’s Companion and The South American Gentleman’s Companion. But his books are much, much more than just cocktail recipes. They are beautifully written, humorous and sharply observed travel writings, and we commend them to you. What made him an honorary bartender, in our eyes, at least? Well, he travelled widely, loved extensively, adventured daily, got rich by marrying a beautiful 21-year-old silver heiress when he was 37, wrote the proposal for his books on the headed notepaper of his private yacht the Marmion, (onboard which Ernest Hemingway was a frequent guest) and he was probably responsible for the first printed occurrences in the English language of the words “ho” (as in nasty) and “ceviche” (as in salad). Despite a life of quite heroic alcoholic excess, he lived to be 92. Mr Baker, we salute you! We are indebted to the work of Messrs. Frizell and Doudoroff of New York City for their insights into the life of Mr. Baker, Jr. Tequila por Mi Amante à la Don Stephen Strawberry-infused tequila, strawberries, lemons, and a faint hint of Mexican vanilla. Mr. Baker was perhaps too busy hunting, fishing and chasing women half his age to explore the applications for his excellent strawberry-infused tequila – but our own Mr. Duff, free of most of those distractions, was not. Super-Dry Martini Doble (Best Cocktail in All Bolivia) Beefeater Gin, Noilly Prat dry vermouth, bitter orange liqueur (as bitters) and Pernod (as drops). The signature drink of Señorita Maria Angelica Cortesse of La Paz, “who proved to be even more beautiful than we’d been told”. Mr. Baker also found it essential to describe Ms. Cortesse’s “small delicious body with thoughtful curves in all the right places”, the old dog. Monk Antrim’s Manila Hotel Mint Julep No. 1 Fine bourbon whiskey, sugar, mint and a float of Appleton Extra Jamaican rum. Mr. Antrim crops up again and again in the writings of Mr. Baker, and with drinks this good who can be surprised? We include this drink for Mr. Fokke, himself quite the world traveler (but no monk). We ask that, in ordering this cocktail, you alert the bartender if you hail from Maryland or Kentucky, so that he may omit the rum. This cocktail must be pre-ordered 24 hours in advance; give us a call. “In passing the bar, I heard the usual On Board Yacht Marmion all cocktails € 9,50 interrogatory at the bar-keeper: “Have you got any good gin, sir?” The Fourth Regiment Cocktail (Bombay, 1931) Kentucky bourbon, sweet vermouth and a blend of celery, orange and aromatic bitters. Fine bourbon and old-school vermouth are underpinned by The Bitter Truth’s sublime Celery Bitters, blended with TBT’s orange and aromatic varieties under the exacting eye of Mr. Janse, who then flames the lot into the glass. As Alfred said to Master Wayne in “The Dark Knight”: “Some men just want to watch the world burn”. “Yes, sir, Hollands.” “Well, mix me a cocktail I want to wet up. “ J.E. Alexander, Transatlantic Sketches, 1833. The Genever Diaries Remember The Maine Rye whiskey, Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth, Cherry Heering and French absinthe. Only Mr. Baker could visit Havana, Cuba in 1933, be within hearing of exploding bombs and “the Sound of 3” Shells Being Fired at the Hotel NACIONAL” and return home with only a cocktail recipe and a vague description of there having been “unpleasantnesses”. A man needs priorities in life, after all. We are in Holland, so we drink genever. We like genever. No, that’s not quite the whole story. We love it. Like a sailor loves the sea. All genever is delightful, but we reserve our highest accolades for the old, the aged and the Corenwijn, liquids that would make the most dedicated of bishops cheerfully kick a hole in a stained-glass window for just one more shot. Old, Aged & Corenwijn genevers share much, in quality and flavour, with fine whisky. Genever is not like gin at all. Genever is genever. The favoured drink of kings, queens, sailors, soldiers, slavers and scientists, once upon a Jerry-Thomas time you’d mix cocktails with a base of genever, whisky, rum or brandy – and nothing else. Ernest Hemingway invented a genever cocktail named Death in the Gulf Stream. Ray Charles drank it every day of his life. You’ll need a bottle in west Africa - to this day - if you wish to meet with a tribal chief. And the biggest market outside Holland is Argentina, where rough, tough gauchos drink genever as they dream of dulces conquistadoras. Here, then, are a few of our favourite genever libations. A Farewell to Hemingway Lubberhuizen & Raaff Netherlands kirsch, home-made raspberry syrup, lime and soda. ‘Being a Sort of KIRSCH Collins We Invented on the Night We Saw Hemingway & Bullfighter Sidney Franklin off on the Plane for New York, & Loyalist Spain” Proost! The Genever Diaries all cocktails € 9,50 The Door 74 Autumn Cocktail Suggestions Signature Cocktails all cocktails € 9,50 Mr. Antoni Inspired by Mr. Ross’ superb Penicillin cocktail and named for Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, who pioneered microbiology in the 1600s (in Delft, of all places). Fine, aged Corenwijn with home-made honey-ginger syrup and a dash of Peat Monster, served over a globe of ice only slightly smaller than the one that scuppered the Titanic. Chester’s Last Word Mr. Browne has flown the flag for Mount Gay for many a year, and we like brand ambassadors (and Mount Gay) here at door 74. Mount Gay Extra Old, fresh lime juice, green Chartreuse and Luxardo maraschino. The Holland House House drink of what was one of New York’s most prestigious bars, last workplace of one Mr H. Craddock before he crossed the Atlantic to take up residency in London’s Savoy Bar. It’s dry, strong and just about the best aperitif cocktail we know: old-school genever, lemon juice, Luxardo maraschino and dry vermouth. Sardiné Frappé Mr. Janse, in between sunbathing and dallying with the local signore, created this superb cocktail on his Italian vacation. Mirto de Sardinia’s myrtle flavours with Tabu German absinthe and a little New Orleans bitters, frappéed, fizzed and sprayed with orange zest. Underworld Lennox The Corenwijn Alexander Corenwijn shaken frothy with dark chocolate liqueur and cream. Served with a rasp of 99% cocoa¬-solids chocolate, our original creation has been described by those who know as the tastiest creamy drink in the world, and who are we to argue? Cachaca, Roses Lime and pomegranate syrup, Mr. Duff’s drink careers successfully between being a daiquiri, a gimlet and something else entirely. Irish Mischief Fine Irish whisky stirred with organic honey, then muddled with limes and served frappé. An as Gaeilge version of the Dowa, favourite among the wife-swappin’ husband-shootin’ smart set of 1930s Kenya, this is the tastiest African caipirinha you’ll ever imbibe. The Double Dutch Cosmopolitan Unsweetened Terschellinger cranberry juice with lemon genever and Dutch curacao, this drink has all-Dutch ingredients. It secretly gives us a bit of a kick to serve a Cosmopolitan in a classic cocktail bar, rebels that we are. I Don’t Like Cocktails all drinks € 8 And why should you? We recommend these simple serves of the highest quality. Presbyterian Old Overholt rye whiskey and ginger ale with an optional splash of soda. Paloma Arette 100% blue agave tequila with fresh lime juice, a salt rim and Squirt. (OK, we don’t actually have Squirt, we use Ting like everyone else, it’s just as good a grapefruit soda as Squirt. And who remembers Lilt, with the totally tropical taste?) door 74, 74 reguliersdwarsstraat amsterdam the netherlands +31 (0)877 844 980 www.door74.nl We are, at the moment, open from Tuesday until Sunday, from 1900h until late; later on Fridays, Saturdays and when the mood takes us. Cuba Libre Havana Club three-year-old light rum & Coca-Cola, set free with a good squeeze of lime. Moscow Mule Vodka with ginger beer and a squeeze of lime. We have rye, wheat, corn and barley vodkas, but we recommend Stolichnaya for this one. Russian, you know. We gratefully accept payment in the form of cash (euros), creditcards and Dutch bank cards (PIN). Thank you. Dark & Stormy Gosling’s Black Seal rum with ginger beer. If you wish to make a reservation for a table, kindly call us between 1500h and 1800h on the day you’d like to come, and leave a request by voicemail. We’ll call you back, honest. We would be delighted to supply you with a complimentary version of this menu, should you wish – please ask your bartender. Johnnie Walker Black Scotch whisky and Old Jamaica ginger beer. Plymouth gin & Fentimans tonic. We really, really, really like Fentimans tonic. And Plymouth gin, as it goes. Thank you for coming to door 74. Come back often, and stay long. Brandy & Coca-Cola. Just because. We like Hennessy, but it’s hard to go wrong with any of the French stuff, to be honest. “I like bars just after they open for the evening. When the air inside is still cool and clean and everything is shiny and the barkeep is giving himself that last look in the mirror to see if his tie is straight and his hair is smooth. I like the neat bottles on the bar back and the lovely shining glasses and the anticipation. I like to watch the man mix the first one of the evening and put it down on a crisp mat and put the little folded napkin beside it. I like to taste it slowly. The first quiet drink of the evening in a quiet bar – that’s wonderful.” Terry Lennox in Mr. Raymond Chandler’s “The Long Goodbye”, 1953.