The Hook & Sling welcomed new employee, Igor Racu, in March earlier this year. Igor who is originally from Iași, Romania moved to Guernsey three and a half years ago, where he held the position of Bar Manager in two well established restaurants and bars, Mora and Red.

Before emigrating to Guernsey, Igor owned his own hospitality company where he taught and managed a host of skills for those entering or struggling in the hospitality industry. Creating food and cocktail menus as well as training waiters and bartenders, Igor brings a fresh perspective on leadership to The Hook staff.

The general nature of Guernsey nightlife means the demand at bars on Friday and Saturday nights are continuous, where everybody wants to be served quickly and at the highest quality. With The Hook’s lively atmosphere Igor says he does not aim to put on a show with tricks, but entertain patrons with high quality drinks.

Igor described the ambience of The Hook as ‘Friday everyday’, and when it comes to the bar’s fast paced environment, Igor said his ‘patience’ was his greatest strength as a bartender.

‘Behind the bar you need to be effective and provide good products and fast service.’

The Hook recently launched its latest cocktail menu which was concocted by Igor and the team and inspired by traditional Japanese flavours, to complement the Japanese cuisine. The cocktails which have gained the most popularity, pictured below, are ‘The Pokémon’, consisting of strawberry & cucumber shrub, aloe vera, vodka and while strawberry liqueur, along with ‘The Sudoku’, made using rhubarb gin, sweet vermouth, Campari bitter and rhubarb liqueur.

Igor, who describes himself as a ‘competitive perfectionist’, said he prefers to switch up the menu every 4-6 months and aims to target all different types of taste preferences on the menu.

To gather ideas for up and coming cocktails along with names, Igor goes into a deep state of meditation and notes down his thoughts to experiment. Satisfaction is a large part of his cocktail creations, which is why if a cocktail is substandard, he will go back to the drawing board until he’s happy to serve his creation to customers.

Igor and the team at The Hook and Sling are constantly creating new cocktails inspired by current trends. If you have a personal preference the team will be more than happy to assist and create something entirely unique!