Service with a Smile
Smile Sakulwandee’s dog nose takes Auckland’s bar scene 38 levels up
by Anna King Shahab
Head bartender at Voco Hotel’s Bar Albert Kodchawan ‘Smile’ Sakulwandee brings an impressive pedigree from her home city Bangkok, and a level of attention to her drinks programme that ensures that everyone who takes the elevator to level 38 and heads through the velvet curtains is in for a cocktail experience to savour.
Bar Albert sits high above Tāmaki Makaurau with unimpeded views of the city’s skyline, and possesses an atmosphere rare in this city: it feels cosmopolitan, in that high-rise way that’s both enmeshed in the city and worlds or floors at least apart from it. I handed Smile some shiso from my garden, she made me a drink (more on that later) and we sat down for a kōrero.
I used to be a chef and also a cooking teacher but I moved into bartending, starting out as a junior bartender in my home city Bangkok. Soon, COVID hit, and the whole bar scene was basically closed down for two years – in Bangkok there were no alcohol sales during the pandemic in lockdown periods.
"I have a dog nose! My dog nose means I can identify smells easily."
As a result, coffee became huge during that time. I trained as a barista and got really obsessive about the technical side … but it was still my passion to be a bartender so when things opened up again I joined the team at Rabbit Hole, a cocktail bar in Bangkok that’s twice been in Asia’s 50 Best Bars. When I joined, the bar was re-starting after lockdowns with a whole new team, so it was almost like starting from scratch. I had no experience in bartending, and I knew almost nothing. I honestly didn’t even know what whisky was, had never heard of Bombay Sapphire and didn’t have a clue what was in an Aperol spritz. But I was a quick learner – and I have a dog nose! My dog nose means I can identify smells easily. After two months at Rabbit Hole, my mentor and manager encouraged me to sign up for the 2022 World Class Diageo competition.
I had just two months to prepare for the competition, so I had to study hard – World Class is known for being super competitive and difficult, with a series of different challenges to get through including a speed challenge, creating cocktails to different themes, and blind tasting where you need to correctly name the spirit, brand, and tell the background story of the product. Around 150 entrants from around Thailand were competing, and most of them were head bartenders or had been working in bartending for a decade or so. And there really are so many amazing bars and bartenders in Thailand. I just went in fresh … but the dog nose helped me. I didn’t sleep for about three months in the lead up! But it was all worth it; I was awarded first runner up, as well as the Rising Star that year.
I moved to New Zealand in May 2023 with my husband. I love it here, it’s so different from Thailand. I think I learned quite quickly what New Zealanders like when it comes to drinks. Kiwis love fruity, refreshing flavours whereas Thais tend to go for more complex flavours. I’m slowly bringing customers around to the idea of more complexity by adding elements here and there. Here, my list might have one or two cocktails that are more experimental than the rest, while some are quite straightforward because that’s what a lot of people want.
I’d love Bar Albert to be known as one of the best bars in the city, and for people to come here to try something new as well as enjoy classics done really well. I want this to be a place everyone wants to come and sit at the bar and talk to their bartender and end up with a cocktail they really love.
I love it when customers want a bespoke cocktail. A good bartender will ask what spirits, brands, and flavours you like – Sour? Sweet? Bitter? Strong? Then instead of just making the usual suspects like margarita, mojito, or pina colada, a good bartender will take the opportunity to make you something tailored to your tastes, and even better, something that’s new to you. If you enjoy it, they now have a new favourite to ask for next time you’re in any bar. Even within the lineup of classic cocktails, there are some that aren’t well known, but are super nice – Mary Pickford, Hanky Panky, and Paper Plane are some of my picks of classics to expand your repertoire with.
I love having all the classics to refer to but my heart is in experimenting. I’m using fruit here that I’ve never had access to before. At the moment, I’m lacto-fermenting plums for about a week to use in cocktails. It’s the first time I’d ever tried fresh plums and I love them! And peaches and apricots, too. I haven’t tried a feijoa yet but the way people are talking about them I’m looking forward to tasting them in autumn.
I’ve made cocktails with some pretty crazy ingredients, like sweet soy sauce, fish, green curry elements, onion … things you wouldn’t expect to find in a cocktail. Usually those cocktails are a long process, days or weeks to get the flavours right, so they’re not something I can just make on the spot for a customer but I’m bringing some experimental elements to my cocktail list which will change every couple of months here. The fruit is seasonal here whereas in Thailand we get all the topical fruit all year round, so I’m looking forward to seeing what each season brings in fruit.
I’ve noticed Kiwis really think about Earth – since I came here I’ve never seen a plastic straw, which is so different to Thailand. I think that’s really impressive. For the next menu here food waste is going to be something I’m looking at – things like if we use the peel of a fruit for a garnish, we’ll make sure the juice is used in another drink and vice versa.
Check out Smile’s creations on Bar Albert’s Signature Cocktail list….
A couple of drinks there that Smile particularly recommends people try:
Thermal Rd – pineapple is cooked sous vide with lavender, and paired with grapefruit cordial and mezcal and a touch of spice from dried chilli.
Tokyo Ln – Scapegrace Umeshu meets Plantation original dark with cherry wasabi and pear juice, and Smile’s fermented plum plays a role too.
There’s a fab lineup of zero-alcohol cocktails, too; I highly rate the East Sling made with Lyre’s pink spirit, cucumber & mint, lime juice, and yuzu tonic. Order a half dozen local oysters with gin and vanilla tomato salsa, and some marinated olives to nibble on and soak up the atmosphere.
Smile selector
What spirits, and what flavours did I like, Smile asked me. I told her I love mezcal, I love sour, and a touch of sweet. Another bartender might’ve simply whipped me up a margarita – which hey, I do love when done well. But Smile wanted me to try something a bit different, and the Naked and Famous she served me became an instant new favourite. It’s one of 200 classic cocktails Smile learned to make in just two weeks when she started out in bartending. It’s made with equal parts mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and fresh lime juice – it’s strong on the palate, refreshing, with enough sweetness and bitterness to round it out.
Bar Albert
38th Floor, Voco, Auckland City Centre
13 Wyndham Street, Auckland Central
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