Uni might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about seasonal ingredients, but, according to Edward Hardebeck, bar director at New York City’s Corima, the perennial changes in sea urchin’s flavor, plus the differences in product sourced from different regions, lead to inconsistencies that make it a tricky ingredient to use in cocktails. But let’s back up — he’s putting uni in a cocktail?
Yes, indeed. In fact, when Corima, the award-winning progressive Mexican restaurant helmed by chef Fidel Caballero, opened in January 2024, its Uni Gin Sour was the talk of the town. As the program grew in a different direction, and the risks of having raw seafood behind the bar became more evident in practice, Hardebeck shifted it off the menu. Now, its legacy lives on at the team’s new spot, Bar Chucho, just a few blocks away in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood.
The first iteration of the Uni Gin Sour was developed by Sam Geller, bar consultant and owner of Rodeo in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Caballero, along with chef Francisco Pedemonte, who was then cooking at Fulgurances Laundromat, were trying to hit on something that was different, eye-catching, and played on Caballero’s love for Japanese ingredients and flavors.
The reception was not nearly as polarizing as the urchin itself tends to be. Hardebeck says that guests either reacted with incredulity and ordered one out of curiosity (and usually ended up liking it) or read about it online and asked for one immediately. All that excitement meant that even after taking it off the permanent menu at Corima, Hardebeck and the team always knew it would eventually reappear.
He decided Bar Chucho would be the perfect venue for it. “It’s unexpected and delicious and undoubtedly creates buzz, so it was only a matter of time until it took the stage again,” as Hardebeck tells it. But this time, he developed an updated version that took into account the difficulties encountered when serving the original.
Right away, he knew he wanted to serve the drink on draft. “It was chaotic and a little stressful to shake the drink traditionally and have all the ingredients out behind the bar,” he says. This method would solve the problems of open, raw seafood and textural inconsistency caused by the fresh uni.
Hardebeck also had yuzu in mind as a complementary flavor from the jump. “Its unique, citrus profile and the fact that uni and yuzu are often eaten together made it a no-brainer,” he says. The addition of strawberry came from a conversation with Pedemonte, now Hardebeck’s coworker at Corima. “He told me about trying to preserve uni in a garum and how after a few months of fermentation this totally unexpected, soft, fruity, strawberry flavor appeared,” Hardebeck says. He mentally bookmarked that factoid, and it popped into his mind when developing this iteration. “As a bonus,” he explains, “it made the color of the drink this gorgeous, sunset sherbet.”
The final recipe is, in Hardebeck’s estimation, relatively simple. It starts by infusing Isolation Proof Gin with freeze-dried strawberries. Then, the team makes a foaming syrup (to replace the egg whites in the original sour) out of water, sugar, and a vegan emulsifier. “It’s a little finicky but worth it for food safety and consistency,” Hardebeck says. The uni, which he sources from Maine, is blended with a bit of water and strained into a smooth purée. Those components are combined with yuzu juice from Yuzuco and water (for dilution) before getting charged with nitrogen and loaded into the keg.
So what does the cocktail taste like? “We would always describe it as oceanic, or akin to sea foam, which I think gently captures the shellfish-in-a-cocktail reality,” Hardebeck says. Another description he likes is “an ocean Céreamsicle — silky, creamy, a bit fruity, and with a hint of sea.” If you’re someone who doesn’t like seafood, it’s probably not for you. If you like marine flavors but are not the biggest fan of the texture of uni, you might just like this as much as an urchin fanatic.
“So much of the particularity of uni is in its buttery texture, where the flavor to me evokes the coast and the tide more generally,” Hardebeck says. This cocktail recontextualizes both the texture and flavor of uni, so he encourages even skeptics to give it a try. It goes great with Bar Chucho’s spicy, kimchi powder-dusted fries or chamoyada dessert, which features creamy watermelon sorbet and spicy chamoy shaved ice. Per Caballero, uni pairs well with its own color, so these orange and pink dishes are nice matches.
While Bar Chucho is fun and casual, the menu offers serious food and drinks crafted by pedigreed industry pros. It’s clear the team has fun together, something Hardebeck loves about working there. “That, along with the drink, encapsulates the oddball creativity and spirit of collaboration present throughout all the spots,” he says.
