The talk takes place at Orilla, the restaurant where Inés de los Santos is in charge of the bar. In the middle of the note, she raises her hand and asks for a bottle of water. While she is absorbed in answering a question, the waiter serves her. But she stops him in his tracks. "This is a catering glass and it's cracked," she notes right away. He apologizes and finds another. She picks up the answer, but realizes she's lost the thread. And few situations describe her better: De los Santos is detailed, attentive, impeccable; his thing is a service that does not let its guard down or out of turn.

And it shows in Orilla, his latest project, but it was developed step by step from the bars of the Gran Bar Danzón, Casa Cruz, his consultancy at M Buenos Aires, Río Café and the Pulitzer Hotel, as well as in his eleven years of catering of cocktails with Julep, in her two books and her various appearances on TV (including hosting "3 minutes" and "The great bartender"), just to name a few achievements of this woman who is already a milestone in local cocktails .

News: She looks like a perfectionist, what is she like as a boss?

Inés De los Santos: Very cool (smiles). I was demanding and sergeant and it didn't work for me. Not by results, but by how it goes. I came home and thought "What a shitty day...". Luckily, halfway through my career I realized that there was another way, which is by working with people you like, with whom you want to talk. I began to value the person more than the professional. Because the professional is done. When you have knowledge, you know your job and how things have to be done, you know how to convey what you want to achieve. In addition, we train together, because with less experienced people other ways of doing things arise. So as a boss I'm more of a colleague.

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News: Did that help you avoid staff volatility?

Of the Saints: 100%. The night is difficult, it is not for everyone. You live backwards, you work days off, birthdays, holidays, New Years. You must like it.

News: And today how much night is there in your life?

De los Santos: A bit and a bit. Being a mom changed a lot. My daughter Cora is six years old, so I start very early in the morning taking her to school. Even if it's not at night, I work a lot, in very different things, I'm used to dancing. Sometimes I also come to Orilla at night or go to an event.

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News: she started as a waitress, how interested are you in her service?

De los Santos: That's all. The gastronomic being helpful cannot be lacking. Have the ability and desire for people to have a good time. Put the courage to feel the client's needs, if she ate well, if she wants to change the drink, if the air conditioning bothers her, if you have to take her coat to the cloakroom. He is a valet of moments that if done well, are glory.

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News: Haven't you missed that a bit?

De los Santos: I don't buy the cassette that things aren't done the way they used to be. There are a lot of people who have hospitality and are behind it, wanting to learn and being sensitive to what's going on. You have to learn to teach too. I try to transmit that spirit of hospitality and they respond very well to me. And they are young!

News: Is there also a responsibility to educate the consumer?

De los Santos: That is part of what the client is looking for today. He wants to learn when he goes to eat or have a drink. He likes to be explained where the gin comes from, how you made the clericó, with what ingredients... And in the right measure, because you don't have to be heavy either, when you do a job that is remarkable, it's good to communicate it, because it makes a difference. If the client comes looking to grow and learn more, it is spectacular. And if not, I still try to make sure that work reaches him because there are many things that are lost.

News: Isla has just launched, a cleric and a sangria. How was that creation?

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De los Santos: When I set up my Julep cocktail catering, I realized that a special drink was needed for receptions, in which people arrive all together and they have to share something slightly alcoholic and fresh, because afterwards the party is long. I discovered that sangria and clericó fit perfectly and I began to make a thousand recipes. They began to tell me that I had to bottle it and sell it, and although I did not think about it from the marketing at the beginning, I then looked for a winery that could develop it. They didn't give me much thought, until I got to Cepas, which, since they already make drinks with wine, understood that it could be a product to be made. I presented six versions and we chose the ones that they liked the most and were possible to do on a large scale. We made the rosé sangria with grapefruit and bitter and the torrontés, lemon verbena and passion fruit clericó. I'm super happy with the result, it's even better than I expected.

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News: Why the name?

De los Santos: The concept of “Being on your island” is something I use a lot, because it speaks of a moment of disconnection from the world and connection with oneself and what we like. And I love generating those moments of enjoyment and relaxation. I like alcohol to enjoy with friends, laugh and relax; not to cry sorrows. So I wanted to propose generating an “island” moment in the day.

News: Was it difficult for you to form your most entrepreneurial and business facet?

De los Santos: It's still hard for me because I'm not commercial. I started with a partner who did the administrative part, we stayed for two or three years and then I was left alone. I was taking it, I surrounded myself with capable people in what I cannot do and now I have a nice team. But I feel entrepreneurial. You tell me “Let's lower the moon”, and I go.

News: Do people sit more at the bar today?

De los Santos: I worked at Danzón as bar manager at the time of its boom, with that twelve-meter bar always full of tourists and consumers. So I'm used to that office. When we opened Casa Cruz, which was a restaurant with a very good bar, we wanted it to be central, so as soon as you opened the door you found that island. But people didn't have drinks because they were in a restaurant. He wanted to go straight to the table. We had to row, row and row, until we managed to turn the tables. And after a lot of work, people would have dinner with drinks or stay at the bar and put together a giant bar. Since then the scene has changed a lot.

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News: And what is taken now?

De los Santos: A lot of Italian appetizers like Negroni, Spritz, very elaborate from the brand side. Something crazy is that everyone is drinking Pisco Sour, there is like a boom. And ginger shots, variants of the Moscow Mule and the Penicillin, those cocktails.

News: Is there a healthy move also in drinks?

De los Santos: Healthy is questionable because it's still alcohol… Although red wine has a lot of proven health benefits. But there is a tendency to use seasonal, fresh products, juices and natural pulps that really improve the quality of what is eaten.

News: What do you like to drink?

Of the Saints: Everything. I really like Scotch whisky, the old, classic blends. I don't like what is happening with malt whiskey, which is becoming a sweet whiskey for the US market. Instead, I really like Japanese whiskey because it's similar to Scotch. I like to drink cocktails with gin, classic and dry, like the Negronis. And I really like red wine, which I drink every day when I come home. On the contrary, if I have a bad day, I open a water.

News: And what do you think about bartenders being the new rockstars, along with chefs?

De los Santos: It's good for the kids to get more work. From that point of view I see it well, because if a brand throws them a few mangoes, it helps. Because it is a tough profession, it is not that there are high salaries. Here you don't live on tips, like in the United States. You are there every day, you load the refrigerators, the barrels, you beat the drunk. So if they give them clothes and swaps, great. But then you have to see what each one believes about himself. If you seriously think you're a rockstar, it's questionable. They have sent me resumes putting the number of followers they have on Instagram, and what do I care? They don't know how to make a Gimlet but they have a following, it's unfortunate.

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News: And how do you carry your own fame?

De los Santos: I like to do, so I like everything that comes with living new experiences. I am a very little routine person, everything new catches my attention. I learn something, I get anxious, I love it. And if something costs me, I leave it. I try to live a life that I like.

News: What pending challenges do you have?

De los Santos: The Monday diet and riding a bike down the street (laughs). Seriously, we'd like to bring Orilla to Miami.

News: What do you enjoy when you are not working?

De los Santos: I really like going out to eat with my friends, my partner, my family. On the weekend the plan is where we go for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I lived alone with Pascal, my husband, we had a minibar-sized refrigerator because we never ate at home. For me it is a plan. I travel thinking about where I am going to eat, not what mountain I am going to visit.

News: Can you take off the chip and enjoy or are you always taking note of things to implement?

De los Santos: For me, enjoying is taking notes!

By Vicky Guazzone di Passalacqua

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