01-05-2025
This 16-Seat Bar In Bangkok Has A Pop-Up Storybook Menu And Gem Cocktails
Inside the Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok is one of the city's most intriguing new drinking destinations: Ruby's, a 16-seat bar tucked behind velvet curtains on the hotel's ground floor where gem cocktails exist. Inspired by an emotional (but fictional!) love story and the raw beauty of gemstones, Ruby's is the prequel to the hotel's successful restaurant—and it's designed to feel both intimate and conceptual.
'We wanted to encourage a connection between the bartender and guest—a discovery experience,' says Shane Jameson, cluster director of sales and marketing for Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok and Sindhorn Midtown. You don't just order a drink; you engage in a conversation, you hear the story.'
Ruby's; Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok.
Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok
The bar's design and menu revolve around a shattered romance—a woman who falls in love with an Italian gem trader and ends up betrayed. That story threads through each drink on the menu: 14 cocktails and two mocktails, each named after a gemstone and inspired by its meaning, mythology, or origin.
Jameson worked closely with the bar team and a Bangkok-based design agency to bring the 'dark fairytale' concept to life. 'We started with a gemology-themed menu and I wrote abstract interpretations for each one,' he says. 'We then enlisted the help of an extremely talented creative agency, who extracted my thoughts from my words and started to design each page, with different papers, types, pop-ups, and so on.'
To add substance, he brought in a geologist and a jewelry designer. 'One of my inspirations was a geologist, who kept me honest in where I wanted to take the stories,' he says. 'The other person I enlisted the help of, for inspiration, was a jewellery designer, who has also had the Ruby's experience.'
The drinks reflect the drama. 'The 'Ruby' cocktail, crafted with gin, jasmine, strawberry, pomegranate, and hibiscus, embodies this, down to the clinebell ice program shard in the glass, revealing the tip only—but the depth is quite apparent,' he says.
The Emerald, Jameson notes, portrays both envy and passion in every sip. 'It's a nod to wanting what we don't have, to Elphaba the wicked witch, and the look and feel of the pagination portrays snake skin notes.' For those terrified of durian, I suggest this cocktail as it has durian on the nose but not in the actual taste.
Chef Davide Caló designed an elevated food menu to match the cocktails' bold flavors. While the menu is called 'nibbles,' it's like a gastronomic journey where you can choose three, six or nine bites. 'The inspiration behind the menu came primarily from the cocktails themselves—their flavors, textures, and the creativity behind each one,' says Jameson.
Caló's favorite pairing is the scallop-wakame sesame salad with trout roe. 'It pairs perfectly with the Aquamarine cocktail—the flavors enhance each other beautifully, creating a fresh and elegant combination that just feels right," he says.
'Gemstones are very complex and have distinctive characteristics, just like our cocktails. Ruby's is meant to be a meaningful conversation, not just idle talk," says Jameson. Once
