Like many, Frankie Mealy started bartending in college to pay the rent but one thing led to another and college was in the rearview and he never stopped. “It’s just not like any other job,” he says. Helping launch The Pearl was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “We’re a Vietnamese street food bar, and I was able to design a menu from the ground up based on that concept,” he says.
Click the image below to vote for Pearl Diver:
THE DRINK
Mealy wanted to use ingredients in use at The Pearl and opted to toast rice to create a horchata base balanced with lavender and citrus. “Somehow I ended up with something like a ‘horchata colada,’” he says. “Who knew?”
Pearl Diver
1.5 oz. Hamilton White ‘Stache Rum
2 oz. toasted rice syrup (below)
Soda water
Combine ingredients with ice and stir or shake. Strain over fresh rocks and top with soda water. Rim the glass with lavender salt.
Toasted rice syrup: Blend toasted rice and water. Stir and strain. Mix rice blend with lactic acid and lavender salt with equal parts water and sugar and simmer. Cool and store.
Try it at The Pearl
917 S. 200 West, SLC
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