The Mood Therapist

A Yink (I Think)

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A Yink (I Think) - Another Modernist Cocktail by Hanoi's Mood Therapist, Rich McDonoughMany new parents will be familiar with a Yink (I think). But maybe not this Yink (I think). For the rest of you…

This one, I think, is called a Yink.
He likes to wink, he likes to drink.
He likes to drink, and drink, and drink.
The thing he likes to drink is ink.
The ink he likes to drink is pink.
He likes to wink and drink pink ink.
SO…if you have a lot of ink,
then you should get a Yink, I think.

From One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

OK, so it’s not really ink. But it’s certainly pink. That’s because of the hibiscus flowers used to infuse the vodka – the old fashioned way. [Read more…]

The Marouni

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Marouni Cocktail - Another Modernist cocktail by Rich McDonough, Hanoi's Mood TherapistThe Marouni – Because it’s simply too difficult to order a Marou Cacao Negroni after a few of them…

This is a very simple concept, made woefully complex. I wanted to make a chocolate negroni using Marou chocolate – a Marouni, if you will. It wouldn’t be the first one of course, but I reckoned I could make it better. [Read more…]

Weird Science: Molecular Night at French Grill – Word Vietnam October 2015

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Word Vietnam Article 'Weird Science' October 2015 - Mood Therapist, Rich McDonough

 

Weird Science

What do you get when you put together an experimental chef and a self-styled mood therapist? Something explosive. Words by Nick Ross. Photos by Vu Bao Khanh

At the start of September, photos circulated around the Hanoi online ether of two men dressed up in nuclear reactor-style protective clothing. Surrounded by smoke and with a large canister of liquid nitrogen in the background, the men were compared by some to characters in the TV series, Breaking Bad.

But these were no former high-school chemistry teachers, no Walter Whites. Instead, the man in the glasses is the chef de cuisine of the JW Marriott, Raphael Szurek, and the guy with the Fidel Castro-like beard is Richard McDonough, a modernist cocktail maker or, as he likes to call himself, a mood therapist. Together they were teaming up to create probably the most unusual dinner ever seen in Vietnam — Molecular Night

[Read more…]

Plasma Mary

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The Plasma Mary - a Modernist Cocktail by Hanoi's Mood Therapist, Rich McDonoughSo why a Plasma Mary?

I love a great Bloody Mary. They are delicious. But they’re filling and can quickly turn into hard work. I’ve never found myself able to drink more than about seven at one sitting…

What I wanted to do with the Plasma Mary was to bring all that wonderful savoury, umami deliciousness but make it lighter and cleaner on the palate. By pressure-infusing vodka with fresh horseradish and using a centrifuge [Read more…]

Clarified Lychee Martini

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Clarified Lychee Martini - A modernist cocktail by Hanoi's Mood Therapist, Rich McDonoughThe Clarified Lychee Martini is a simple recipe but a great cocktail for demonstrating the transformational abilities of the centrifuge. With this drink the difference really is night and day. Most lychee martinis are milky white affairs with plenty of flotsam/jetsam and not a lot going for them in the flavour department. Either taste the fruit isn’t pronounced enough or the gin is diluted down to the point of sadness…and who needs that?

[Read more…]

Location, location, location…

My location is your location! The Mood Therapist is a wandering soul who pitches up with his bag of magic at your home, business or event. Based in Hanoi, the Mood Therapist can offer more options closer to home but can always bring a little cocktail happiness across the region.

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