Master mixologist Ektoras Binikos has been head mixologist at the 3-star restaurants Aureole and Oceana, and at the renowned Michael’s New York. Most recently, he was the mixologist and managing partner at the 2ndFloor on Clinton,an exclusive cocktail lounge on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He is soon to open a cocktail lounge in West Harlem, NYC, called Sugar Monk.
Binikos has always been at the forefront of mixology and has won numerous awards. He has created cocktails to raise funds for charity events as diverse as HURRICANE KATRINA, an NYC AIDS benefit for Rwandan children and THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY. His cocktails have also helped fund the MILLAY COLONY OF THE ARTS in Austerlitz, NY, the SPENCERTOWN ACADEMY FOR THE ARTS in Spencertown, NY, and the STEEL YARD ART COLONY in Rhode Island.
Binikos has been featured in several publications, including NY Magazine, Time Out NY, The Daily News, The San Francisco Chronicles, Wine Enthusiasts, Village Voice, Manhattan Magazine, and Paper Magazine.
At the Craft in Focus Festival Binikos will teach two unique master classes:
Master Class 1: A New Twist on Prohibition Era Classics
Saturday June 3 15:00 hrs – 18:00 hrs
In this class, we will revisit 4 Prohibition Era cocktail gems, the Bee’s Knees, Scofflaw, the Southside and the Flu. We will begin by following the original recipes. We will then revisit them and elaborate on them using new spirits, extracts, bitters, herbs, refined syrups and shrubs as well as contemporary techniques, and then draw comparisons, emphasizing on the lineage and the importance of the classics in today’s mixology.
Master Class 2: Art in a Glass
Sunday June 4 15:00 hrs – 18:00 hrs
“This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you.”
Luke 22-19-20
In this class, we are going to produce 4 cocktails, inspired by 4 extraordinary visual artists. Joseph Beuys, Caspar David Friedrich, William Blake, Rebecca Horn.
We’ll talk about the use of olfactory, visual, chemical, alchemical, athropological, historical, cultural and poetic references to create those concoctions. Some ingredients will seem unorthodox, even disquieting, but like as an art procces, we will use whatever elements are necessary to embody each artist’s personal history and creative life, and transform those elements into unusual and seductive elixirs. It is known that the release of volatile molecules from certain food components act as semiochemical messengers, evoking an emotional response. As would an alchemist, the combination of selected elements (alcohols, tinctures, infusions, herbs, spices, extracts, minerals) will seek to embody the essence of each artist. The combination of these aromas, flavors, textures and esthetic properties will create elixirs, unleashing marvelous sensory arousal.