Acclaimed bartender Mo Aljaf’s bar love story began when he was handing out flyers in dive bars in Amsterdam. The industry gleefully charmed him, and he rose through the ranks, eventually opening his own “five star dive bar” in the rough-and-tumble district of Raval in Barcelona in 2017.
Fast forward five years later to the World’s 50 Best Bars awards ceremony in his then-hometown, where his bar, Two Schmucks, had just been named No. 7 on the list. People were flocking to the after-party and lining up to get into the bar and its two neighboring sister establishments, both of which had opened during the pandemic. Head bartender Juliette LaRouis could be seen stalking the line with a tray of shot glasses, making the wait seem worth it.
“We were determined to do it big time,” Aljaf recalls.
Little did anyone know that two days later, the founders would back taking control of the business back to venture capital investors, and nearly the entire staff would walk out. But that wasn’t all. There was also an internal power struggle, and the job was not what it had been.
“You wake up and your job title changes from creative to logistics and it’s not as much fun anymore,” Aljaf explained during a talk at Tjoget Bar.
We’re in Stockholm, just an hour from Västerås, the Swedish city where Aljav grew up, and there he speaks to me for the first time about his life since that day in October 2022, when he left his life’s project.
“I had no idea what was going to happen next.”
Aljaf and Laroui at work
But Aljaf had received an invitation from the tequila brand to go to Guadalajara, Mexico, with vague plans to then go to the United States.
“I wanted to go to the US and felt that our brand and bar were a good fit there, but my name is Mohammed and I was travelling with three suitcases at the time, so I got stopped at border control. I was officially refused and told I’d probably never get an ESTA again,” he says.
Aljaf was overcome with despair and was literally homeless, he was on the verge of bankruptcy as he had not reconciled with his co-owners in Barcelona.
Well-known bartender Hampus Thunholm, who runs Stockholm’s Röda Huset (currently ranked 31st in the World’s 50 Best Bars), came to the rescue by donating a sofa in his Stockholm home.
“This was the first of many sofas to be made,” Aljaf says with a grin.
Then he got a tip from a lawyer: first-preference employment-based immigrant visas for those who meet exceptional ability standards are also available to those in the service industry. Feeling he had nothing to lose, he applied, submitting his passport to the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm. This final step in the process usually takes about two weeks, so unsurprisingly, after a month, the former Laval bar superstar was feeling hopeless. He was working out twice a day desperately to forget the dire fact that his singular master plan to sell the Schmuck’s concept to the U.S. market was not going to happen.
He was in his mid-30s and his next step was to move back in with his parents in Västerås.
But six weeks later, his passport was resized and returned with a visa.
The strike team packed up and headed to Miami to open a permanent location in a hotel. The entire menu was researched and developed in a tiny kitchenette in an Airbnb shared apartment, hence the name Kitchenette. It was a fresh start, but not a solid foundation. And Miami just wasn’t the place Aljaf wanted to settle.
“I’ve always struggled with a sense of home because my parents came to Sweden as refugees, but when I came to New York in May 2023, I immediately felt at home,” he says.
In Miami, Mo met bar entrepreneur Dan Binkiewicz, a former barback who worked his way up the ranks and now owns a number of bars. Binkiewicz had always wanted to open a place in New York, and now Laroui, a former chef and staffer at Le Syndika in Paris, was also reluctant to leave France for Barcelona in 2020, but after being persuaded by Aljaf, he feels it’s a good idea.
The trio behind one of New York City’s most anticipated bar openings of the year has come together.
Laroui Aljaf and Dan Binkiewicz
But finding the right location in New York isn’t easy, and Aljaf didn’t give the space much thought to what is now destined to be a 100-seat joint called Schmuck’s. [note the period] The building in Manhattan’s East Village was overflowing with sewage and looked like a garbage dump, but Binkiewicz saw potential.
In February of this year, another residency event showcasing Aljaf and Laroui’s drink skills was held at the back bar of Midtown’s Kimpton Hotel Eventi, which was a huge success, with some guests waiting in line for up to three hours just to try a cocktail.
Also accompanying the new Schmuck. on the journey will be original Two Schmucks team members Floriane Groux and Eliane Naeger.
“I grew up with four sisters, so for me it’s a comfort zone,” Aljaf says of working with an all-female management team.
Schmuck.’s new cocktail list hasn’t yet been named, but it’s unlikely to be anything less than Kitchenette, a Miami tribute to what the team has created without professional bar tools.
“You have to work with what you have, and we didn’t have anything. Bartenders these days are so dazzled by all the modern gadgets out there, so I think this is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that this job is actually about working with your hands,” Aljaf says.
While a sequel to Kitchenette is still in the works, patrons in Barcelona will notice a difference: the cocktails poured on the other side of the Atlantic are more “refined.” Aljaf recommended I try Le Banané, a flavorful cocktail that tastes exactly like a ripe banana.
“We are always looking for flavor. Juliet once [a] “She’s worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and has a great way of applying that knowledge to cocktails,” he added.
When Schmuck. opens at 97 First Avenue in September or October, patrons can also expect upgraded versions of the signature melon cheese pepper and an herbaceous burnt marshmallow and black truffle drink. Plus, there will be a selection of draft beer cocktails, perfect for a quick and easy drink, and a large selection of fruit wines, which Aljaf sees as a big trend for the future. Meanwhile, the kitchen will also be serving Middle Eastern and French fusion dishes.
If you can’t wait that long to have a drink, here are two Schmuck. cocktail recipes you can try at home.
Schmuck: A cocktail recipe you can try at home
Ramos Royal
material
Gin with Cocoa Butter 1.7 oz/50ml
Simple syrup 1 oz/30 ml
Truffle cream 1.4 oz/40 ml
0.4 oz/12.5 ml lime juice
Lemon juice 0.4 oz/12.5 ml
Egg white 0.5 oz/15 ml
0.5 oz/15 ml soda water
4 shakes of salt
Method
- Combine all ingredients except soda water in a milkshake machine or blender.
- Add 1 cup of crushed ice.
- Stir until the ice melts.
- Pour into a highball glass and let sit for 3 minutes.
- Use a straw to poke a hole in the center of the cocktail.
- Pour soda water into the holes to create a “soufflé effect.”
Preparation
Gin with cocoa butter
84.5 oz/2.5 liter gin
Cocoa butter 1.7 oz/50 g
- Melt the cocoa butter (it must be raw cocoa butter).
- Add the cocoa butter to the gin and let it infuse at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Place the gin and cocoa in the freezer for at least 6 hours and strain through a cloth.
Simple syrup
33.8 ounces/1 liter of water
53 oz/1.5 kg sugar
- Mix water and sugar until sugar dissolves.
Truffle Cream
33.8 oz/1 liter cream
0.2 oz/5g minced black truffle
- Mix the truffles with the cream and let them infuse for at least 24 hours.
Tarte Tatin
material
1.2 oz/35ml Dasse Butter
2 ounces/60ml heated apple juice
Amontillado Cinnamon 0.7 oz/20 ml
0.7 oz/20ml creme fraiche
0.7oz/20ml cream
0.3/10ml whole egg
5 shakes of salt
Method
- Add all ingredients to a blender along with 2 ice cubes.
- Blend for 30 seconds.
- Serve in an old fashioned glass over ice.
Preparation
Heated apple juice
33.8 oz/1 liter Golden Apple
Malic Acid 0.14 oz/4 g
- Squeeze fresh apples, add malic acid and bring the juice to a boil.
Dasse Butter
8.8 oz/250 g salted butter
25.3 oz/750ml D’Ussé Cognac
- Heat the butter until it turns a nice golden brown.
- Strain it into the Dusse Cognac and let it infuse at room temperature for 14 hours (put the Cognac in the freezer overnight first, then strain it once the butter is frozen).
Amontillado Cinnamon
33.8 oz/1 liter Amontillado Sherry
Sugar 11.7 oz/333 g
10 cinnamon sticks
10 cardamom cloves
- Crush the spices and mix them with the Amontillado sherry in a saucepan. Bring everything to a boil and let it infuse for an hour.
- Strain the spices and add the sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
