July Event: Cocktail Masterclass At Lafayette

Woohoo! Fun times. Myself and a colleague showed up for a cocktail masterclass, learning to make excellent mojitos and martinis. Best part of all, we were actually behind the bar, giggling away while adding rum to ice and shaking like a polaroid picture.
Layfette is a great place, with nice staff and an amazing Scottish barman, Jourdan. I really liked the artwork upstairs in the bar, and downstairs has some interesting décor as well.
Great night, would love to make it back to Layfette soon!

Sooooo… My first Elite night! I am no longer an Elite night virgin. Hoorah!
What a great great night. Where to start… Sex face? No, I’ll come back to that!
Venue — Lafayette… The name of one of my favourite characters from True Blood «hookah!!»…
I had my reservations about this place. Not because I heard anything bad but I guess just because there appears to be all these cocktail bars opening up with average service and average cocktails and they eventually close due to their blandness. I was pleasantly surprised and gave myself a kick up the arse for being so cynical in my old age.
Great atmosphere to the place. Eclectic décor. Super friendly staff and not in an annoying «American — you have a super day!» kinda way.
So we were downstairs. Met other Unilocalers and made 2 cocktails. Split into smaller groups, we each took turns going into the masterclass area to make firstly a mojito and then a apple vodka martini (I think)…
The cocktail master who showed us the ropes was great fun and really patient and did an awesome job. He showed us how to make the cocktails and then in 4’s we went behind the bar to make them ourselves.
Count to 6 whilst pouring the rum for your mojito. I counted to 10. Huuzah!
Whilst I knocked over a bottle Mr. Cocktail Master says «easy tiger»… Oooh er missues… ^_​^ Also his assistant was quite the hotty!
My mojito was alicious. We then went onto the vodka martini and this is where we were told that the face we make whilst shaking our cocktail is our «sex face»… I made the most of that!
We had another couple drinks upstairs afterwards and enjoyed a mid week drunken evening. I will be most certainly be back here for drinks and want to try the food also!!! NOM nom noms…
Thanks Annie for giving me a hangover on a school night! It was the best kind of mid week drinking ^_^

Totally awesome evening at Lafyette. Atmosphere, people, cocktail lessons, cocktails, décor… just top notch!!!
The guy showing us how to make these magic potions was on the ball energetic, charismatic, a great host, very inspiring and just the type of person who would make you want to constantly return back to Lafyette!
The magic potions were amazing, especially the signature martini! fantastic!
I will definitely be returning to this bar, it has a great feel and the staff are just extremely friendly and nice. Beer is great, and cocktails even better!!! The perfect recipe for a great time!!! Thoroughly recommend trying it out!

A great evening of cocktail-​making! The staff were friendly and helpful and everyone got a chance to make two cocktails for themselves. The barmen were great teachers and were very patient with all the novices! This was my first Unilocal event and my first time in Lafayette. It won’t be my last!

This is my debut Unilocal review which I feel obliged to post after receiving a load of free alcohol but won’t be my last. To be honest, a night out in Westmoreland Street is usually the stuff of nightmares for me and I probably won’t venture back here any time soon. Not that I can fault the venue too much. I was impressed by the range of drinks and cocktails on offer in Lafayette. Having Peroni on tap is always a welcome addition to a bar. The venue itself looked fairly decent if a little VIP. I can’t comment on how it would work on a Saturday night or on the standard of clientele but for a Unilocal event it was 5 star.
The event itself was great fun, Annie did her best to look after us. The time gap between the first and second cocktail required an extra Peroni from the bar which didn’t help my motor skills when tackling the more difficult signature cocktail. I just about managed to avoid glassing myself in the end and the cocktails were a real treat.
–Bonus points for using Havana Club in the mojito.
–Negative points for being addressed as «Romeo» in a vaguely derisory manner by the Glaswegian barman although he did remind me of the Scottish comedian Limmy.

Another lovely evening organised by Annie L., Unilocal!Dublin Community Supremo and a woman who really knows her cocktails. We were offered a free drink on arrival and then headed downstairs, where we chatted until it was our turn to mix our own Mojito! This was a lot of fun. I bailed early as I was just back from a work trip but the craic was mighty and I was sorry to be leaving but sometimes, one needs the leaba! Thanks everyone for a great evening. And oh that scent of freshly torn mint!

So I stroll on into the upstairs of Lafayette, grab a drink and make my way downstairs to the cool laid back atmosphere of the nightclub area to which I join La Unilocalers.
After the barman with the cute Scottish accent demonstrates how to make a Mojito, we are thrown behind the bar and told to «Go on give it a go at making a cocktail». This is the part that looked so easy when he was being so swish, I end up spilling crushed ice all over the bar (I give him bonus points for politely sniggering at me and not blatantly pointing and laughing). To add that I had not drank one drop of alcohol this night so I have NO excuse only makes me admire these bartenders even more!
The surroundings are comfortable, and other people have noted that it feels VIP but I would consider it more intimate as the staff are in no way pretentious, more lovely and friendly (and patient to show that many people how to make cocktail’s) and I will definitely frequent this place more often.
Thanks to Annie for such a brilliant event (and the goodie shot glasses afterwards!)

Thank you Annie and thank you Unilocal for another great event!
This is the first time I went to a Unilocal event where I actually spoke to other people. Usually I bring lots of people along with me and we end up staying in the group. I found last night people were a bit more open to chatting to randomers so I found that better than the regular events.
The venue was nice, I’m not sure if the glass doors will always be there at the bar. Perhaps its going to be a VIP section? I’m not sure if I would go there on a normal night out though with it’s Marbella vibe and ‘everyone is a VIP’ policy. I fear it might be a tourist trap on O’Connell Bridge.
The cocktail making was well organised — it was good to make two different types (I always wanted to use a proper shaker thingy!) and the barman was helpful to all four people making them at the same time. I also love my souvenir Unilocal shot glass :)
We got two free drinks, one on arrival and one in between cocktails… and I woke to a lovely headache this morning. Thats what cocktail making on a Wednesday night will do to you…

If only blackberrys had a «check in» option… I would have been one of the first to do so last night, I even as for wifi, YES… Score they have it but it was down last night!
Up stairs in Lafayette the bar is pretty sweet, really cool laid back. Nice seating area, and cool trendy décor.
It turns out a group of my friends were up stairs last night during the Unilocal!event downstairs, so i got talking to them.
Can I point out that thay have Nastra Azzuro — Perroni on Tap… Way better than bottle and its a cool glass. They have a great range of beers.
Anyway more to the point… the Cocktail event!
EPIC!!!
We all met Anne as we walked in, i felt like i was at a mini converence with the name tag but hey it worked and it was cool.
A great mix of different Unilocalers, who got talking quite quickly.
Then we were introduced to cocktail making. I gota tell ya the chap teaching us was really good at what he does and caught everyones attention. He helped every one out. The way he made his mojito wow best one i have ever tasted.
Then the martini later Yum, isint the word but its exactly what i said after the drink touched my lips!
Sanctuary down stairs look so good. The lighting around the place, the tables where boxes with a light in them, the couhces are so comfy and the bar is laid out really well, with a Dj boot in the centre. they have 2 bars down stairs.
I will definetly be going to this bar and downstairs club more!!!

This event rawked, thanks Annie L, Annie S and the peeps at Lafayette.
We entered the venue to find a funky bar with its dark wood counters, dark walls and funky bright art. But it was down stairs we ventured for our master class. The décor again going for the dark theme, but is cleverly illuminated.
As more Unilocalers arrived we moved to a table and started to catch up with old Unilocal friends. New Unilocal friends joined us too and the place was filled with chatter.
Annie L played head teacher and organised every one into manageable groups for the first round, Mojitos!
It was great fun, our teacher was good at teaching the art of cocktail making, but funny too. He knew how to work the crowd. I, however, managed to not make a Mojito. By mistake I think I used Peach Schnapps. But it tasted great, I christened it a Peach Zombie. Everyone had a try and loved it. Teacher however was not so pleased when he spotted the wrong bottle in my hand… oops!
Next up we made a Refresh Martini, which is Lafayettes signature cocktail. I paid more attention here and managed to use the correct ingredients. This I think was more fun, cos you got to shake the drink in ice and then use the fancy cocktail sieves to pour your drink into a martini glass. And the cocktail tasted great too.
After it was over, went went back upstairs and stayed for another drink. I got a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, which was only € 4. This is really great value for Dublin.
Nice bar Lafayette and will be back.

Heart surgery, flying planes, making cocktails. Three jobs that are best left to the professionals.
At least that’s the impression I got after this excellent Elite event. Getting cocktail-​making tips in a bar that looks like a Tony Montana fever-​dream was definitely a unique experience.
Making a refresh martini was a lot of fun, especially with the Ready Steady Cook set-​up of the bar. Apparently bar-​men need two skills «quick with the bottle and short with the pour». If the strenght of my martini was anything to go by, I’ve a lot of practice to do…
Thank to the Annie L and Annie S for setting this up, and the staff at LaFeyette/​Sanctuary for being so accomodating!