A toast to the Oscars

February 21, 2011

Tracy Chan,

The Oscars are only a week away, and some of us already have our favorite movies, actors and actresses picked out. Tim Rita, a local award-winning mixologist and president of Hawaii’s chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild, has an unusual take on the award ceremony though; he’s created five cocktails ($12 for each one), each corresponding to one of the Oscar-nominated movies.

The cocktails, which are being served at Lewers Lounge and the Halekulani Hotel through Sunday, reflect the themes of the movies, both stylistically and literally. For example, Le Danse Noir, the drink inspired by “Black Swan,” is a blood-red cocktail (remember Natalie Portman’s eyes in the movie, when she began transforming into the black swan?) that blends blackberries and sage for a taste as complex, seductive and darkly elegant as the movie itself.

For 34-year-old Rita, who trained under legendary mixologist Dale DeGroff, and has been bartending for eight years, mixing up special cocktails is second nature. Most recently, he created a Valentine’s menu, and he makes it a habit to release new seasonal and themed cocktails every few months. Since the Oscars are kind of a big deal this year, he wanted to do something special to commemorate. After a bit of thought and research on IMDB, he came up with the recipes for these five drinks:

A toast to the Oscars

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I was lucky enough to sit down at Tim Rita’s bar in Lewers Lounge and watch him make each of the cocktails (they’ll be $12 each), along with a running commentary on each. It only took me a few minutes to be impressed by the level of detail and thoughtfulness that went into the construction of each one.

Ever wondered how a movie would be interpreted in drink form? Read on!

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On the movie front, Tim says he’s rooting for “Toy Story III” to win.

As the drinks go, two of the cocktails really stand out to him. The first is Le Danse Noir, which he predicts will be a crowd favorite. “I like the flavors and how the color and textures work together with this one,” he said. “I’m just happy with it, like a proud parent.”

The second? Mickey’s Ward. “My personal favorite is Mickey’s Ward, because I like bourbon and I like whiskey. The Ward Eight is one of my favorite classic cocktails. Not too many people know of it, unless you’re a bar nerd like me, but it delivers a bold statement.”

Hear straight from the bartender’s mouth what he was thinking when he created each drink, the ingredients and personality that went into them, and how each was inspired by an Oscar-nominated movie: