VANCOUVER — Botanist’s executive chef, Hector Laguna, and head bartender, Jeff Savage, will welcome Mexico City’s acclaimed Hanky Panky cocktail bar on Nov. 2 and 3 at Fairmont Pacific Rim for a Día de los Muertos collaborative dinner and cocktail experience. Hanky Panky has been ranked No. 13 on the World’s 50 Best Bars list.

For two nights, chef Laguna will pair a six-course tasting menu, infused in traditional Mexican flavours with three feature Hanky Panky cocktails, created by bartender and general manager Gina Barbachano, and bartender David Negrete, with three invented by Savage. Dishes will highlight blends of chorizo and caviar, lamb barbacoa and grilled octopus with leche de tigre.

“Día de los Muertos is a holiday that centers on gathering with loved ones to remember family and friends that have passed by sharing food and memories,” says chef Laguna, who grew up cooking on his family farm in rural Mexico. “Every year, I would spend days beforehand preparing with my mother and grandmother, gathering ingredients from various local markets. This collaboration with Hanky Panky is very dear to my heart, as I’m able to share these sacred traditions with our Botanist family and community, uniquely connecting my Mexican roots to the modern gastronomy that guests have come to expect from our menus.”

Following the tasting-menu at Botanist, the bartenders of Hanky Panky will team up with Fairmont Pacific Rim’s creative beverage director, Grant Sceney, to offer a cocktail-forward experience at The Lobby Lounge & RawBar. This collaboration marks Fairmont Pacific Rim’s third of the year in an ongoing series into 2023, which aims to provide unrivaled, immersive culinary experiences in partnership with renowned restaurants and bars from around the world.

“Our global tours have allowed us to connect with other like-minded culinary and cocktail artists like the experienced team at Fairmont Pacific Rim,” says Barbachano. “It is a pleasure to bring the flavours and style of Hanky Panky to Vancouver – and to celebrate with the backdrop of Día de los Muertos only enhances the experience.”

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