Rittenhouse Square stalwart Friday Saturday Sunday re-opened this winter after an extensive renovation process. PA Eats had the opportunity to meet with head bartender Paul MacDonald and chat with him about his creative recipes and bartending philosophy.
MacDonald has worked in cocktail bars for about six years. He got his start bartending in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but quickly moved on to the mean streets of Philadelphia. Most recently, he slung drinks at Rittenhouse Square’s a.bar before joining the team at Friday Saturday Sunday.
To Friday Saturday Sunday, MacDonald brings a passion for deploying high-quality ingredients in innovative ways. “If you look at our menu, you’ll see a few really unusual and interesting house-made ingredients, some unusual and interesting market ingredients as well as some recognizable stuff.” He continued, “We try to have a mix of it. I like bringing savory flavors and flavors that are conventionally used in the kitchen behind the bar … I’m always trying to bring flavors you don’t ordinarily see on cocktail bars.”
And indeed, a cursory glance at the cocktail menu reveals an array of unique ingredients from smoked eggplant in the Carte Blanche cocktail to the sfumato rabarbaro (smoky rhubarb) and banyuls vinegar in the Slow Blade.
As an example of Friday Saturday Sunday’s cocktail program, MacDonald walked PA Eats through the creation of the Safe Space, a frothy gin-based delight.
The foundation of the Safe Space cocktail is Revivalist Harvest Expression gin from Chester County’s own Brandywine Branch Distillers. MacDonald adds lemon juice (he quipped, “I always like to start with the least expensive ingredient so in case I mess it up I’m not throwing away the good stuff”) and house-made pear and clover syrup. From there, he adds egg whites and olive oil—the olive oil enhances the egg white foam—and shakes the whole thing up.
The pièce de résistance: he scorches the top with a creme brulee torch. It’s flashy, for sure, but as MacDonald explained, “It’s not pure showmanship. It’s a really cool garnish, and it makes the whole room smell like toasted marshmallows.”
Not only does the Safe Space smell like a toasted marshmallow, it also tastes like one. The result of MacDonald’s efforts is an incredibly delicious and well-balanced drink, sweet and airy with notes of caramel. It’s tough to make a dessert-inspired cocktail that isn’t heavy and cloying, and with his rigorous technique and cerebral approach to ingredients, MacDonald has managed to nail it.
That being said, MacDonald isn’t just a cocktail geek, experimenting with vegetable-based syrups and obscure liqueurs.
Like all of the best bartenders, he values being a gracious host. “Even more than selling drinks that are on the menu, I like when bar guests develop a relationship with their bartender. We have a lot of very talented bartenders on staff here who have their own particular ways of taking care of every guest and have a lot of really cool, creative drinks. I think the best way to experience a good cocktail bar is by developing that relationship with your bartender, letting them know your flavor palate, trying new things.”
He concluded, “More than anything else, we want this to be a bar where you enjoy drinking.”
We’ll raise a glass to that, Paul.
Find Friday Saturday Sunday at 261 S. 21st St. in Philadelphia; phone (215) 546-4232. To see more of Paul’s artistic cocktails, follow along on Instagram.
- Safe Space photos: Jordyn Kimelheim
- Remaining photos: Paul MacDonald
