A new South Beach restaurant rethinks its drinks with an Asian-influenced sour
A new casual restaurant in Miami Beach offers a solution when one friend craves Latin fare and another wants Asian.
Open since November, Doa (2000 Collins Ave.) is the latest from restaurateur Arjun Waney of Zuma, The Arts Club, Coya and La Petite Maison fame. Its cuisine is Nikkei and Chifa—Japanese and Chinese food, respectively, with roots in Latin America. Pronounced “dow-ah,” its name means “door” in Japanese.
Doa wasn’t going to have a strong bar program at first, says bar manager Josue Gonzalez, but he was hired to please an urbane, educated clientele. The decision to join Doa was easy for Gonzalez, who started his career six years ago as a bartender’s assistant at Zuma.
Gonzalez got to work right away, introducing a variety of carbonated and non-carbonated cocktails each week and hiring staff members who’ve worked with him at other locations. Gonzalez has 10 cocktails on the menu right now, with plans to add more in the coming weeks, including what he calls “prestige cocktails”—$50 concoctions made with high-end spirits such as 21-year-old rum.
Recently, he introduced the Pachamama Sour, an Asian-influenced gin cocktail that reflects Doa’s casual vibe. The name came about when a friend introduced him to Zamaca, a liqueur of the Peruvian maca root with elderflower notes, which has the image of the Inca goddess Pachamama on its bottle. He combined ginger and demerara sugar, a type of raw cane sugar, to add a caramelized layer of flavor. The Asian influence is tasted not only in the ginger but also in the tart Asian citrus yuzu.
Introducing approachable but unique cocktails is part of Gonzalez’s continuing plan to bring on the “cool and exhibiting” things that he says will be coming to the versatile restaurant, which features a bar, lounge and dining room.
“It’s not like you’re at a club. It’s more like you’re at a friend’s house,” he says. “When you come in through those doors, you’ve entered somewhere comfortable. Somewhere you can have a pleasant dinner and feel at home.”
Pachamama Sour
Ingredients
1.5 ounces Hendricks gin
3/4 ounce Zamaca
1/2 ounce yuzu
1/2 ounce ginger-demerara syrup
1 egg white
Directions
Combine all ingredients in shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Double strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze oil from lemon peel on top. Create heart shapes with angostura. Garnish with dehydrated lemon slice.
