From edible glitter to custom made cocktails, for your next intimate after-hours
During one of my recent FAM trips, I had the privilege of visiting Irvine, California. I was hosted at Marriott Irvine. While there, I was treated to an experience at the hotel’s speakeasy YNK (You Never Know). During my brief but memorable visit, I got to experience a wonderful array of quick eats and a sample of some of the unique beverages currently available to guests.
As someone who always appreciates a good snack and drink, I really liked the presentation and the fact that there was edible glitter (!) in my drink.
I chatted with Sean Milan, food and beverage manager at Marriott Irvine, about the team’s process and what planners looking to host an intimate gathering at YNK can expect.
Eming Piansay When I was at YNK someone said it takes four months to craft a menu. What is that like?
Sean Milan It’s a roller coaster for sure. A lot of things change, and there’s a lot of research that we do to make sure that the finished product that we’re giving out is satisfactory to us.
There are always the what ifs and can we make it better? It’s like a forever learning process.
We’re continuously just trying to figure out if we can top ourselves and or top each other. Whose cocktails are better?
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We draw inspiration a lot from a lot of different things. It can be from a friend, or a co-worker, or a family member or an Instagram reel that you see. I want to do that, but I want to make it my way. What I might like may not be what somebody else likes. [We’re] working together in the process of how we get from this inspiration to a finished product.
EP What does the usual process look like for you?
SM At YNK, we’re constantly changing our menu every quarter. We also have a couple of seasonal menus. Once the new menu development begins, we just start with the destination. Right now, it is Latin America, We think of every single country or continent that is a part of Latin America, and we kind of dive down into, what are their signature cocktails? We also look at ingredients that we want to use.
Recently, we just learned what Café de Olla is: that’s a pot coffee made by boiling black coffee and cinnamon sticks. Then we just take it and do it our way. We try to make it craftier.
A month of just working on how we make this Café de Olla perfect for the cocktail? Do we sous vide? What temperature do we sous vide at? How long do we sous vide the cinnamon sticks in the coffee? What kind of coffee are we going to use for the French press? These little details are what makes the product great.
EP You really think about the experience of the customer, then.
SM Exactly. If someone’s going to spend $18 on a cocktail, we want to make sure that they’re getting their money’s worth. A lot of other places will use cheap coffee to try to cut costs and try to come up with something that’s lavish and nice and appealing, but we focus mainly on what we are using. That’s how we provide value, in a sense.
EP What else do you use for research and inspiration?
SM I’m a believer that if you have a strong foundation of base knowledge of cocktails, you can expand on it.
EP Are you able to create custom menus for groups and guests?
SM We can make it happen. We like to try to focus on guests first. Our menu is pretty small, but whenever we do have meetings or businesses come in, and they want to have a social hour at YNK, but they want a specific type of drink where they want, like, Tito’s Vodka, we talk to whoever the head of the group is and figure out what they want.
EP Do you have any big plans for the future of YNK?
SM Our plan is just to be the best cocktail bar in Irvine or Orange County.
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There’s a lot of great bars out there. How do we stay up with the trends? How do we level ourselves up? It’s a forever learning process for us. I think we just want to sell products that have value, that people want to come and see and drink. We want people to enjoy their time here.
What keeps us moving forward is the guests. We want to give them something that they haven’t seen before, give them something that they see as valuable, but with a YNK personality to it.
EP What sets you apart from other speakeasies and bars?
SM I think that we try to challenge the status quo. We just want to stay true to our concept, which is YNK, You Never Know. You never know what to expect when you come to YNK.
We want to give a little bit more of an elevated experience. We want to give more of an intimate experience. That’s what kind of keeps us unique in a sense, because it’s not easy to copy us. We’re trying to stay unique to who we are.
