The Gibson by Marian Beke opens a new Chapter in Berlin
© Ben Fuchs
Bar ohne Namen
Entschlossen verweigert sich Savage, der Bar einen Namen zu geben. Stattdessen sind drei klassische Design-Symbole das Logo der Trinkstätte in Dalston: ein gelbes Quadrat, ein rotes Viereck, ein blauer Kreis. Am meisten wurmt den sympathischen Franzosen dabei, dass es kein Gelbes-Dreieck-Emoji gibt. Das erschwert auf komische Weise die Kommunikation. Der Instagram Account lautet: a_bar_with_shapes-for_a_name und anderenorts tauchen die Begriffe ‘Savage Bar’ oder eben ‚Bauhaus Bar‘ auf.
Für den BCB bringt Savage nun sein Barkonzept mit und mixt für uns mit Unterstützung von Russian Standard Vodka an der perfekten Bar dazu.
Marian Beke is bringing his award-winning concept “The Gibson” from London over to the German capital. Joining forces with Aviran Avidan and Omer Gazit of "Bellboy" fame, he is now continuing his drink and bar philosophy near Potsdamer Platz – creating an impactful destination oozing with childlike joy, but with high standards of quality.
Marian Beke’s journey with “The Gibson” is now entering its tenth year: the native Slovak opened his first bar in Old Street in 2015 running it until March 2023, when the lease expired. Which was good timing as gastro-entrepreneurs Aviran Avidan and Omer Gazit (“Bellboy” co-founder and long-time employee respectively) began shifting their horizons and making plans for new projects. They’ve now left the Bellboy Group which alongside the Berlin branch also operates its flagship venue in Tel Aviv.
In any case, the three of them have known each other for some time now: after all, Beke was the one who came up with the extravagant cocktail concept for the bar-with-the-rubber-duck and got involved in the Berlin outlet after his bar closed – meaning he got to know the city and its punters. In short, all three were well prepared for their joint project – to open a new chapter with “The Gibson”.
© Ben Fuchs
A tonne and a half of “bar stuff”
So what’s the difference between “The Gibson Berlin” and “The Gibson London”, what are you bringing with you over here? First and foremost, loads of bar stuff, explains Beke with a laugh: “We brought a tonne and a half here by lorry: cocktail books, equipment, decoration – it’s incredible how much stuff you accumulate over time.” And, adding significantly to the total weight was their in-house vermouth, produced by “Del Professore” in Italy. Beke explains he still has 200 or 300 bottles of it in stock as the production facility was unfortunately closed after the brand got taken over.
Let’s see how long stocks last. After all, this vermouth is a key ingredient in the iconic “Gibson Martini” – a semi-dry vermouth enriched with vegetable pickling spices thereby combining sweetness and umami. As iconic as the martini may be, Beke has noticed many drinkers do have reservations about this sometimes very dry drink. “And it’s often too warm and too watery. I often struggled with martinis like this myself as a punter,” explains Beke.
The Gibson Martini Experience
Patrons at “The Gibson”, on the other hand, can look forward to a wonderful martini experience: it starts with silver onions pickled in balsamic vinegar, which are sweet and sour rather sharp and tart, and continues with a sip of that crisp, cold martini that allows the vermouth to develop adding plenty of body. A special nickel coating on the drinking receptable prevents any metallic flavour. Finally, when the drink releases its alcoholic punch, Parmesan cheese takes the pressure off and adds a savoury kick.
This classic has been added to the Berlin menu along with four other martini variations, which was to be expected. Otherwise, the offering has been a little pared down compared to the London bar: There they served well over 50 plus temporary drinks. Mainly because at that time – before Brexit and before Covid – the London bar scene was extremely competitive and there was great pressure to innovate. From purely a business perspective, this wasn’t very smart, Beke recalls – because ever-new drinks, new products and new menus meant constant investment.
Cocktail calendar
The Berlin menu takes the form of a calendar: twelve months, twelve cocktails (available all year round), plus four seasonal drinks for every season. We’re sampling May: the “Hobby Mule” comes in an imposing birch mug: sweet grass vodka (also known as bison grass vodka, a little Berlin cult), pumpkin puree, cucumber juice and pale ale are among the ingredients of this quaffable sup garnished with oak moss. No less attention-grabbing is the “Don't be a Peacock”, whose ingredients – mezcal, a hint of absinthe, agave, avocado leaves and a puree of young peas for grassy, bitter notes – are sucked through a straw on a peacock’s neck. Or the “Out Of This World” served in a little rocket sitting on a crackling sparkler imitating the fuel jet. The rocket is made of cork, completely unsuitable for outer space – which in turn gives the drink a nuance of flavour: “This makes it a little drier as it progresses and adds tannins,” says Beke.
© Ben Fuchs
“It should never just be a gimmick”
Anyone still unfamiliar with Beke’s work should realise: This is about far more than just causing a stir, more than just “instagramability”. The app didn’t even exist when he started creating cocktails like this. After all, he was already doing that at “Nightjar”, where he worked for around five years before opening his own bar. The fact that it was a speakeasy was not sufficient to set the place apart, he recalls, as new bars were opening all the time and classic drinks were everywhere. So the crucial question was: “How do we make cocktails more conceptual? With the glass, the story, the name, the garnish? It must never be just a gimmick: it always starts with the drink and then the garnish and glass follow on from this. This is also the case with one of the non-alcoholic cocktails on the menu: “Burn It Up” features a home-made cognac-based and de-alcoholised distillate. Pear, sultanas and the scent of musk in a second glass, cojoined with the first, bring together flavour, smell and appearance.
Evoking childlike feelings
“Our aim is to create a memory and feelings that you don’t or shouldn’t otherwise have as an adult,” explains Beke’s business partner Omer Gazit, a long-time bartender himself. Excitement, amazement, perhaps even scepticism at first when the opulent vessels – even water is served from a fish belly jug – arrive at the table or the bar. Combined with total commitment to quality: “It’s not easy to create a place that is both fun and sophisticated. Lively, but with meticulous attention to the drinks. That’s a challenge for the staff.”
© Ben Fuchs
Food, cigars, disco
“The Gibson Berlin” can seat 55, plus 25 in the outdoor area, where patrons can also smoke cigars – just like in the bar's London precursor. While there’s no live jazz like in Old Street, here they focus on playlists featuring funk, soul and co. In terms of food, the aim is to broaden the offering significantly: small snacks to go with the drinks in any case, but the aim is also to collaborate with local chefs and the popular “Berta” restaurant right next door in the “Precise Tale Potsdamer Platz” hotel building. And a mini disco is now also in the pipeline.
More international than the London bar scene
There are already ideas for joint concepts going beyond this one, but first they want “The Gibson Berlin” to properly arrive in the city – which is challenge enough. But Beke is looking forward to it: “Berlin has many international visitors as well as great bartenders from all over the world. I get the impression the bar scene here today is even more diverse than in London. And having lots of different cultures is a key ingredient for a bar scene that wants to develop even further.”
