{"id":4062,"date":"2026-05-12T10:20:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T10:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=4062"},"modified":"2026-05-12T10:20:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T10:20:06","slug":"are-cocktail-and-bar-snack-pairings-the-next-big-thing-in-dining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=4062","title":{"rendered":"Are Cocktail and Bar Snack Pairings the Next Big Thing in Dining?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Sardinia, bar snacks are no longer an afterthought \u2013 they\u2019re part of the main event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"chef<\/div>\n

For centuries, the rules of serious dining have felt firmly established: wine belonged to fine dining, cocktails belonged to dimly lit bars. Sommeliers spoke reverently about minerality and structure while bartenders slid over bowls of olives and hoped nobody was hungry. One pairing was considered an art form. The other came speared with a cocktail stick.<\/p>\n

But that distinction is beginning to dissolve. Increasingly, chefs and mixologists are recognizing that cocktails \u2013 with their acidity, smoke, spice, bitterness, and botanical complexity \u2013 can be more expressive partners for food than wine is.<\/p>\n

\"chef
Chef Pam traveled the world to train MGallery chefs on how to perfect her bar snack menu \u00a9MGallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And in many cities, the best eating experiences now happen perched on a velvet stool with a drink in hand. That certainly felt true for me in Cagliari, Sardinia, where, inside the rooftop bar at Palazzo Tirso Sardegna, the line between fine dining and cocktail culture suddenly felt very thin indeed.<\/p>\n

See also: Why London Restaurants are Embracing a New York State of Dining<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I was there to interview Pichaya \u2018Pam\u2019 Soontornyanakij (more famously known as Chef Pam)\u2013 the Bangkok-based founder of Michelin-starred<\/a> Restaurant Potong and one of the most influential voices in contemporary Asian fine dining \u2013 about her new line of elevated bar snacks created for MGallery Collection. \u201cI think back maybe five years ago, [bar snacks were] very underestimated,\u201d she tells me. \u201cPeople don’t just put nuts and chips out anymore. They put something more meaningful and that represents who they are as an establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"cocktail
\u00a9MGallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spanning 16 MGallery properties from Paris<\/a> to Seoul, Melbourne to the Middle East, the collaboration aims to celebrate World Cocktail Month, with each bar snack being paired alongside a complementary cocktail. Each of the 16 properties will serve the same five signature bar bites, thought up by Chef Pam, alongside two regionally inspired creations tailored to local tastes and ingredients. \u201cI traveled the world,\u201d she says. \u201cParis twice, Korea, Australia, Hong Kong… to meet the MGallery chefs and share my flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Korea and Japan, guests will find crispy rice topped with tuna on the menu; in Hong Kong, a luxurious mantou-style burger filled with glazed lamb. Elsewhere, there is fried squid paired with squid ink, caviar-crowned tartare, delicate crab creations, and beef tartare, which Chef Pam dubs as \u201cbeautiful, with a kick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"mgallery
\u00a9MGallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

See also: Michelin Star Recipes You Can Make at Home<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

For her, the challenge of moving from a fine dining menu to snacks was rooted in creating food suited to the unique psychology of the bar environment. \u201cIt has to be something simple, but also surprising,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes it can surprise you in the way it looks when it’s served, or the taste being bold.\u201d<\/p>\n

The collaboration, with its regional links, also reflects a broader shift happening across global fine dining, one moving away from inherited European conventions and towards expressions of heritage and place.<\/p>\n

\"mgallery
\u00a9MGallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cRight now, fine dining around the world is going towards localizing the cuisine,\u201d Chef Pam explains. \u201cBefore, fine dining was usually French cuisine or maybe Italian or Japanese. It’s very generic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, she says, chefs are becoming increasingly interested in hyper-local traditions and regional specificity: \u201cnew chefs are pushing towards their heritage cuisine. It can be as small as a village cuisine or a region.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Sardinia, bar snacks are no longer an afterthought \u2013 they\u2019re part of the main event.\u00a0 For centuries, the rules of serious dining have felt firmly established: wine belonged to fine dining, cocktails belonged to dimly lit bars. Sommeliers spoke reverently about minerality and structure while bartenders slid over bowls of olives and hoped nobody […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}