The Cocktail Whisperer: A Spirited Interview with Khun Dicky Hartono,Bar Manager of Firefly Bar
Can you describe the journey that kick started a career in this industry for you and the driving force behind it?
My journey start when I first move to Dubai and I fall in love with the bar industry when I do barback at The Address Dubai Marina, the driving force is while I work in the bar I can meet many people from different part of the world and learn something new about many different culture, so it is like travelling around the world through conversation with the guests, working with different nationalities in the bar, and so many interesting things that I can experience when I am behind the bar.
Dicky Hartono
Bar Manager of Firefly Bar
Can you explain the Firefly Bar’s concept/style?
Firefly Bar Concept is a Jazzy Cocktails Bar with many different premium Spirits and Wines. So basically, Jazz music and cocktails come together.
Can you share your perspective on spirits and bartending, how it affects the cocktail you present?
My perspective about the spirits and bartending definitely will affect the cocktail that we present. We need to use the correct Spirit and good quality Spirit to create such a balance cocktail and in the same time the correct bartending technique is also essential to build a balance cocktail. And I strongly believe we need to learn the basic foundation about the Spirit and the bartending technique in order for us to deliver the best quality, we need to learn how to walk before we can run.
Can you show us a cocktail that showcases both the identity of Firefly Bar and your distinctive bartending style?
We are proudly present the cocktail menu of Firefly Bar really showcasing the identity of the bar and our bartender. The menu we called “The Great Adventure of Firefly” we have 20 different signature cocktails that inspired from many different places around the world where the firefly visited, start from Thailand to India – Turkey – Europe – South America – North America, so we blend the flavors of East and West. The bartending style is always about what you can get locally and what is available surround you, without being overly complicated we crafted the cocktails according to classic cocktails DNA or nowadays we call it modern-classic cocktails.
“The Great Adventure of Firefly”
Can you share a quote that reflects your passion for cocktails and mixology to the readers?
My favorite quote is “Ichi-Go Ichi-E” meaning one chance one encounter, this Japanese four character idiom I always remember wherever I go, so how we reflect it on the passion, for my personal opinion this teach me that we need to make the best out of it every single day, we need to present the cocktail on the best possible way and we need to serve our guest the best possible way that will create unforgettable memories for them because we never know that when to meet them back again, we have the one chance now and we need to make the best out of it.
How do you plan to bring transformation to the Firefly Bar’s cocktail for the year 2023?
For the Firefly Bar cocktails this year we will stick with our DNA the modern-classic but we will add more experimental aspects on it by using unique ingredients and combine unusual flavors together