Cocktail King Dimitri Lezinska Stirs It Up
The Cocktail King Stirs It Up
The French-born, London-finessed, mixologist and brand ambassador has made Bombay home since 2012, raising the bar like no other. Dimitri Lezinska stirs it well with his latest venture and the sips gone by, and serves an exquisite array, with recipes exclusively for readers of UpperCrust
Text: Lyle Michael
There’s a whole lot more to a cocktail than meets the eye. As we sit in conversation with the man of the hour, renowned mixologist and cocktail expert – at a South Bombay eatery on a breezy Saturday afternoon – we see there’s a whole lot more to the man behind the bar, too. Dimitri Lezinska lets us in on the creation of cocktails a la Dimi, ingredients that go into some of his signatures, and better yet, into the creation of a global ambassador for leading spirits and a family man, over an adventurous 25-year span.
Born in Paris, moved to Italy at the age of 10 with his mum, completed his education at a catering college in the French Alps at 18 and joined the military in France – as was mandatory at the time – for 10 months. This is how it began for a young albeit assertive Dimi. It was one of the most vibrant experiences of his life, being in the army, yet he knew it was London calling from there on. Wasting no time, he literally flew out the day after he finished his stint in the corps, on 29 Sep 1994. Mum’s background in the nightlife in Italy and his catering academia took him across the Channel to the city where there’s naught but an electric buzz all year through. London! Teeming with bars and a club scene quite unparalleled in the 90s, Dimi was drawn in. London eventually became terra firma for 18-plus long and memorable years, and thus was made the man, a maverick of sorts, and the beverage expert behind some of the biggest names in the alcobev industry we know today.
Dimitri Lezinska – former bar manager at London’s top establishments, Asia ambassador for Chivas, Global Ambassador for Grey Goose, consultant for Hendricks, and for hip restaurants in Bombay; cocktail mentor for bartenders worldwide, event organiser, TV celebrity with a show to his name and current beverage solutions and brand advocate for top Indian gin, Stranger & Sons. Prized above all for him, though, is Dimitri Lezinska – husband to former supermodel, Reshma Bombaywala, and father to two adorable boys.
“Today’s our 11th anniversary,” smiles Dimi, in his cool demeanour. Happy anniversary to the both of them, who met at an event at Indigo Colaba in January, 2006, when Dimi was global ambassador for Grey Goose and Reshma volunteered to stir up a cocktail with him from among the exclusive guests gathered. All it took was that chance encounter for the two to hit it off, followed by another meeting at an event at Taj Mumbai’s Insomnia soon after. There onwards, it was staying in touch telephonically for over a year, a holiday in France and some back and forth between London and Bombay that culminated in a grand destination wedding in Goa in 2010.
“One look at Reshma and I was like, “damn,” and she was so cool. It’s two worlds coming together and it’s been amazing,” Dimi beams away. “We lived in London for a while, then Reshma got pregnant. It was then time for a change! It hit me instantly when I had to leave my wife and newborn for an event at the Oscars in Feb 2012 in LA. I just did not want to go. I was done with travelling for work and being away from home.” After much deliberation and consideration, it was decided that Bombay would be home, and so it has been since December 2012 – an exploratory journey undoubtedly, a challenge more so.
India presented a whole new canvas for the beverage master to paint with, its host of spices and flavours tempting sensuously and marvellously. Dimitri has imbibed a lot along the way and imparted his wisdom through his years of training bartenders here. “I was taken by surprise with the challenge Bombay’s Tham brothers (owners of Koko, Trilogy, The Good Wife, Foo) threw my way to create a cocktail menu to appease the local palate. Coming from London where your ingredients were all available in a bottle, here in India with a limited bar scene, I had to source and adapt with local ingredients to create cocktails unlike most of what I knew and did before.” Moreover, it had to complement the menu at these new and trendy eateries by Keenan and Ryan Tham. What we’ve sipped on at the launch of their restaurants or events to initiate a new spirit in the market laid bare Dimi’s flair.
Or at Bombay Canteen where he consulted on a cocktail programme and menu based on his discovery of Indian flavours and the application of his philosophy honed over the years. Either you have it or you don’t! Dimi sure does! What it takes is an innovative mind and technique to create a masterful drink that will “…disrupt your thinking of what cocktails are supposed to be,” in the master’s words. Like the first one he did for Koko with – wait for it – broccoli and white chocolate! “Some will like it and some won’t. But you will try it at some point. That’s what I achieved at the establishments I worked at here – helping the team understand the ingredients available and the process behind the creation of a cocktail menu with them.” What of making your own Campari behind the bar at Foo – the Asian tapas player from the Thams? Dimi’s been there, done that. Do you recall the smokin’ good morel mushroom one at Koko way back when? Quality mushrooms from Kashmir that pay homage to the cultural ethos that is India.
Quality is the pinnacle of good food. No compromises at the bar! Expect no less of a man born from the “cocktail renaissance” in UK in the mid ‘90s and a well-heeled professional with many an accomplishment under his barman’s belt.
Dimi kicked off his career at Bar & Grill in London before moving on to the then swish LAB and eventually serving as South East Asian Ambassador for Chivas. Little did he envision much of those long and arduous nights behind the bar for the next nine years. “While Bar & Grill elevated London dining on a whole back then, LAB revolutionised the cocktail scene in London. It was voted Best Bar of the Year and taught me what a pure cocktail bar is like,” reminisces Dimi. “LAB was all about fresh fruits and creating cocktails from the freshest ingredients. But I was wiped out with the night shifts. Then, Chivas came my way and off I was to Dubai to train bartenders and get a taste of bartending globally. A very humbling and inspirational experience. Post which I began as a consultant for William Grant & Sons and then launched Hendricks in London.”
With Dimi, now came a rockstar image which took shape more formally in the Discovery show titled, Cocktail Kings with the first in a 13-episode series airing in Iceland in June 2005. Dimi and his business partner, Colin Appiah rocked the joint, travelling to locations across the world, coming up with drinks off the bat at first, then with a little R&D in place, competing with one another for the crown. And lo, Dimi bags the prize at the tie-breaking episode in Milan. “Colin and I had a great time doing the (British) show. It was something we decided we must accomplish when we were successfully running an events company together in London. We would work with 400-500 pounds of fruit for an event – get two chickens for sustenance – and thought ‘why not do a TV show?’ It was a lot on Dimi’s plate all at once as he was also approached by Grey Goose to be their ambassador at the time.
The man just ran with it. Grey Goose gave him eight of the best years travelling and fulfilling the requirement of a “French English-speaking cocktail expert” to the nines. Along with Francois Thibault, the vodka maker, Dimi went around translating the “French-ness of the brand” across continents while learning a great deal from him. “Francois and I shared a wonderful camaraderie, like a tag team, the (good) bad boys of the industry.” But travelling 10 months a year took its toll on Dimi, the family man. Lest we say, Bombay has benefitted remarkably so.
We’re back to the real-time Dimi, in the flesh, unperturbed, gratified where he’s at today. And a delivery of new spirit samples comes to the door. It’s part and parcel of his responsibilities at Stranger & Sons. “I am constantly innovating and working on spirits. I have been with Stranger & Sons since 2018 and now we are working on taking it to international markets,” shares Dimi. “The founders – Rahul, Sakshi & Vidur – are a great team to work with and have great vision. India has so much to offer in terms of an in-house brand with the spices at large.” The startup's gin infuses together nine locally-sourced – some from their own botanical garden – herbs and spices and a mix of citrus peels while its junipers are imported from Northern Macedonia. “Stranger & Sons is Indian-spirited (pun intended), produced in Goa, sports the tiger in a mythical avatar on its creative logo, and has earned India its first gold medal for an Asian gin. It’s about evolving the Indian narrative when it comes to gin and going beyond gin as we know it.”
Let’s say you add ginger to a G&T instead of a lime wedge? Absolutely, Dimi decrees, when he’s in India. When he’s in the West Indies, say, it’s rum. It’s about the right drink for the right moment. “With Stranger & Sons, I do hope to travel again soon given that that 2020 had us all locked down,” shares Dimi. Travel! The essence of life, we say! Non-COVID times, the Lezinskas would jet off to Europe to visit the mum, tour wineries, or locally, to Panchgani! When in Bombay, time is spent playing in the park with the boys and doing tastings at home. “I don’t drink now, only tastings for work,” states Dimi. “As for Reshma, she loves whipping up her own Negronis and I’ll set the music to the right mood.” DJing is another feather in Dimi’s cap, FYI!
“I mix liquids and music, but not food.” Oh well, Reshma’s got that covered pretty well, we’re told.
Take a look at some of Dimi's cocktail recipes here.
| Green Maozi | Pickler’s Prescription | Le Cinémartini |
| 
| 
|
| Ingredients Method | Ingredients Method
| Ingredients Method
|