Diana Morell of Grafton Street sips a Jurnalista (Photo: Susanna Bolle)
Growing up in Colombia, Diana Morell never thought she’d become a bartender. Her family owned a small restaurant, so she grew up in the hospitality industry, and she recalls that she had an early interest in esoteric spirits. She even had an uncle who experimented with barrel-aging cocktails — highly unusual in a country without much of a cocktail culture. But Morell’s creative outlet was fashion design.
It was her love of fashion that brought her to the US, where she worked for a time in New York while also working in restaurants to make ends meet. Eventually, Morell began tending bar and was attracted to the creativity that was possible in mixing drinks. She began developing her drink-making skills at small restaurants and bistros. Most significant among these was the Italian restaurant Il Casale in Belmont, where she developed an inventive cocktail menu, including some barrel-aged drinks, perhaps in homage to her uncle. “Ah, I left one of my barrels there when I left,” she says ruefully. Since that was quite recently, you may still be able have one of her drinks at Il Casale, though she’s no longer there to serve it to you.
Five months ago Morell left Il Casale to take over as bar manager at Grafton Street in Harvard Square. Grafton, which has a relatively young clientele and also gets its fair share of tourists, is worlds away from the relatively calm, low-volume, fine-dining restaurant bars where she cut her mixological teeth. She’s been pleasantly surprised, however, by the relatively adventurous palates of her younger customers and she’s created a sophisticated drink menu to match.
Diana Morell of Grafton Street (Photo: Susanna Bolle)
“I want to expand their horizons,” she says. “Some kids just want shots of Jagermeister, but then there are others who know what a Sazerac is or appreciate Manhattans or like good bourbon.” What’s more, she notes, they’re young and open to trying new things, so she can be more adventurous in creating her drinks, tweaking classics like the Manhattan. Of these Morell offers three, using Amari, the complex and often bitter liqueurs, rather than vermouth.
Morell also makes her own simple syrups and other compounds for her drinks. One of her most unusual simples is a syrup made with panela, an unrefined cane sugar product that is hard, almost like a candy, and used to sweeten just about everything in her native Colombia.
“I take a pound of organically grown, wood-fire smoked panela and deconstruct it,” she explains. “I turn it back into a simple syrup. The flavor is just so smoky and almost molasses-y — it further enhances the smokiness of some of the spirits that we use.”
Diana Morell of Grafton Street (Photo: Susanna Bolle)
When I visited in early August, Morell was already thinking forward to her fall menu. She has some very interesting drinks in the works, including a chamomile/chartreuse martini, which she says is a gorgeous green, plus a pumpkin sangria, which isn’t as unlikely as it sounds — it involves homemade pumpkin compound sweetened with panela.
Currently, a favorite cocktail of Morell’s is a hold-over from her days at Il Casale. It’s called “Journalista”: a mix of rye, Averna (an herbaceous Amaro), mint and a little Amarena cherry syrup. This makes for an unusual, surprisingly intense drink.
“I think bartending is about being creative and making drinks that you’re passionate about. It’s like being a chef. You may have a mentor early on, but when it comes down to it, you develop your own style.”
Jurnalista
2 oz Old Overholt rye
1 oz Averna
1/2 oz Amarena Cherry Simple Syrup
3 sprigs of mint
Place all the ingredients in a shaker, filled 2/3 with ice, and shake vigorously. Double strain (to remove bits of mint) into a rocks glass with no ice. Serve ungarnished (the mint sprig that you see in the photos is just to make it a little more photogenic).
Grafton Street's Jurnalista (Photo: Susanna Bolle)