Frank’s Bar x Bar Trigona: The Best Is Yet To Come

Sonic Barrels | Frank's Bar x Bar Trigona | Food For Thought

Located within Avenue K sits a still unopened bar, named after the eponymous crooner himself, Frank’s bar lends its name from Frank Sinatra. With a menu that can only be described as sonic-centric, the new bar’s pop up at Bar Trigona sets an example of the best that’s yet to come.

Frank’s Bar Kuala Lumpur: An Homage to Frank Sinatra

Headed by Giovanni Magliaro, Frank’s Bar takes its name from ole blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, built with an homage in mind, their drinks are built around Italian-Americana, with their signature sonic oak barrelled boulevardiers. These barrels are treated to a playlist using Sinatra’s music, with the believe that when stimulated at a certain vibration, the concoction receives micro shakes, giving the resulting drink a smoother texture.

GIovanni | Frank's Bar x Bar Trigona | Food For Thought

“Named and inspired after the legend, the chairmen, o’l blue eyes Frank Sinatra. A speakeasy concept bar that aims to be in the top of Kuala Lumpur’s upcoming bar scene. Innovative and masterful cocktails prepared by mixologist Giovanni Andrea in a 1930’s era setting. The menu will consist of old classics to new age cocktails as well as fine Cigars and vintages to drink the night away. Slated to open in October of 2020 at Avenue K in front of the iconic Petronas towers. Frank’s Philosophy is to provide our guests a 360 degrees experience, where the drinks, the atmosphere and the service is top-notch with no shortcuts. Our service will be an essential factor in all we do. We will strive to make sure that our customers enjoy our cocktails, coupled with the best service and hospitality we can provide.” — Giovanni Magliaro, Head Bartender of Frank’s Bar.

Basil Trumpet

Widges gin, Mancino Ambarato Vermouth, apricot & basil shrub, soda water, light rum, calamansi jam, balsamic vinegar and lime
The lightest amongst the cocktails, the cocktail was quite light on the palate, and tasted like a caprese salad in a long glass. The umami from the shrub and balsamic vinegar reminds you of a dressing while the basil gave it that grassy aroma.

Floral Lah | Frank's Bar x Bar Trigona | Food For Thought

Floral Lah

Tried & True Vodka, saffron infused Mancino Secco, green apple sour syrup and lavender kombucha
A decent take on a cocktail using lavender, which would normally tend to lean towards a too floral, but this cocktail used just a touch of it, balancing the cocktail for green apple syrup.

Mash-Up Classic | Frank's Bar x Bar Trigona | Food For Thought

Mash-Up Classic

Pandan infused Diplomatico Planas, Mancino Rosso Amaranto, Campari, lemon, sugar syrup and milk
The Mash-Up was a combination of 3 classics, a rum old fashioned, a negroni and a clarified milk punch. The cocktail had the right ideas, with the clarifying at the end as quite a clever touch. The cocktail has all the depth of flavours, and you can tell that its inspired by a negroni, but with that iconic sourness that you’d expect from a proper milk punch.

Fig P.B.J. | Frank's Bar x Bar Trigona | Food For Thought

Fig P.B.J.

Michter’s rye, China China liqueur, Mutiara fig jam, peanut butter apple cider, pink grapefruit juice, lemon juice and sugar syrup
This cocktail was a collaborative effort with Bar Trigona, known for championing local ingredients using the Shah Alam grown Mutiara figs. The flavour was unmistakeably a peanut butter and jam in a glass, with the jam being fig flavoured. The flavours of peanut butter was very prevalent, and is one that leaned towards the sweeter side.

“We wanted to tie up with the best in KL and Asia, and Bar Trigona and Bar Manager Ashish were welcoming to provide us an avenue to showcase what Frank’s will be all about. It was an exciting pop up with overwhelming support, and we were delighted to be able to tie up with Trigona for the event.”

Drowned In The Sound | Frank's Bar x Bar Trigona | Food For Thought

Drowned In The Sound

Michther’s bourbon, Michter’s rye, Mancino Rosso Amaranto, Campari, chocolate & orange bitters barrel aged in American oak cask with Frank Sinatra’s music
Of all the cocktails we tasted on the night, the Drowned in the Sound was the most interesting. The tasting went as follows, we first tasted the Boulevardier twist on its own, without the sonic treatment, and made a side by side comparison, with the results being quite surprising. The non-music treated Boulevardier was good, but the sound treated version had another level of smoothness. The theory behind this is that each playlist will vibrate at a different frequency, therefore resulting in a different ‘shaking’ process. This Sinatra treated version was unmistakeably much smoother.

“We go as far as letting our patrons decide what playlist they want for their own barrels which we can age for them according to their music taste.”

The Frank’s Bar x Bar Trigona Experience

All in all, we cannot say what exactly is the experience that Frank’s Bar will deliver to us, but we definitely are looking forward to see what else is on the complete menu. The bar also promises interesting snacks, also from the kitchen of sister restaurant Natalina’s, which should pair nicely with the cocktails. The most interesting part about this menu are its choices of flavours, which are generally quite complex, and we really hope to see and taste the best that there is to come.


Frank’s Bar
L3-6,
Avenue K Shopping Mall,
156, Jalan Ampang,
50450 Kuala Lumpur
+6018 212 5811
Opening Hours:
Daily, 10.00 am to 10.00 pm

| PHOTOGRAPHY: NICHOLAS NG | WEBSITE: FRANK’S BAR |

Nicholas Ng

Nicholas Ng is a restaurant critic and drinks writer and is the editor of independent publication Food For Thought. He has been a freelance journalist for the 15 years and has previously worked as a lawyer and in digital marketing. He currently is the Principal Consultant of A Thought Full Consultancy, a food and beverage marketing consultancy.

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