Gal Shem Tov, a 27-year-old Israeli bartender, won second place last Monday in the Elite Martini Masters global cocktail competition, held in Athens, Greece, when she created a cocktail dedicated to the memory of those murdered at the Nova festival.
This is one of the most important competitions in the cocktail world. This is a global competition from the Stoli Group, in which each distributor (in a specific country, the vineyard) holds a local competition with a predefined martini challenge. The local winner moves on to represent the country in the world competition. In this year's competition in Athens, Belgium won first place and Israel won second place. Gal Shem Tov created, as mentioned, in a cocktail competition called "Nova" and dedicated to the memory of those murdered in the terrible massacre at the music festival that occurred on October 7, when an iron sword war broke out.
Gabi Gershtor,
Just before she returned to Israel, we caught up with her for a short conversation to hear a little more about her experience as an Israeli representative in an international competition at a time when anti-Semitism in the world is at its peak and the situation is sensitive and tense. "I run the Fantastic TLV bar. I've been a real-time instructor and bartender for six years," Shem Tov, who in normal times is also a second-year architecture and design student at Shenkar, aspiring to become a bar designer.
She competed in the Stoli Elite Vodka competition on behalf of the Kerem Company, and after winning the national competition in front of a panel of judges out of 32 Israeli contestants, she went on to represent Israel in the international competition held in Athens.
The brief for making the second cocktail was given to the competitors two days before the October 7 date of Black Saturday, when the partygoers at the Nova festival were also attacked with monstrous brutality. They were asked to create a summer cocktail that could be served at a laptop or on the beach. "For the first few days, I couldn't think of anything – especially not a summer cocktail you can drink at a rooftop bar or beach bar. In general, the trip was a big question mark."
Were there any thoughts of canceling everything and staying in the country?
"The first few days were hard for me and it took me a while to digest, especially because a number of people close to me were hurt because of the situation. I went through the briefing again and the first thing I could think of was to do something in memory of the Nova Festival. Not what it symbolizes now, but what it was supposed to symbolize – freedom, love, unity and Israeliness."
The martini stage, photo: Gabi Gershtor
She symbolized this vision with ingredients in the cocktail itself. "Passion fruit for passion, sabres liqueur that I made myself for Israeliness, syrup based on desert herbs from the Desert Song Farm for herbaceous and desert farms, and of course Elite vodka and a spray containing fragrance ingredients that are mentally linked to love (vanilla, roses, jasmine and cocoa) that I made myself," she says, detailing: "In addition, I used porcelain cups I bought from Material Girls Studio in Tel Aviv - they used sand in their creation process so that the glasses would give the feeling of desert sand to whoever holds them. They could simulate the sand under the dancers' feet. This feeling, in addition to the sweet smell from the spray, stood in dissonance for a drink that was sour and refreshing. I did it to create the confusion and dissonance of the whole situation."
How did the judges react?
"When I showed them the cocktail (Sandra Lawrence, owner of a well-known lifestyle magazine and writer of a famous alcohol blog in London, and Ian McPherson, owner of one of the world's leading bars, Panda & Sons), it made everyone feel suffocated and their eyes watery, I even saw it in the photographer who photographed me. It was so much so that the judges, after the presentation, focused on asking me about my personal and family situation rather than the cocktail, which is not typical for competitions. Among other things, the emotional reaction also stemmed from the suffocation in my throat, as I talked about the Nova story and what the festival had to represent, versus what it eventually became."
We were welcomed with open arms
The global competition was contested by 25 competitors from all over the world, from Taiwan to South America and the USA - with contestants from all the leading countries in the field of hospitality and cocktails. Of these, by the way, six women competed. The first prize of the competition is to represent the Elite brand (the entire brand, not just Stoli Elite) in guest shifts in leading bars around the world and work globally with the brand.
"The competition featured contestants representing India, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States," Shem Tov says. "The contestants knew in advance where everyone was coming from and so did the judges, with some of the judges also judging in the national competition. We were welcomed with open arms. They knew the situation and took care of my well-being from the first moment the situation in the country began. We were received with a very loving embrace, even from unexpected countries like Turkey. They asked how we were doing a lot and got to know our situation and me specifically from the first moment."
The show for the judges, photo: Gabi Gershtor
Did the subject of the war come up with the candidates?
"In the personal conversations I got to talk about the situation in Israel, Gabi [Gabi Gerstor, brand ambassador and winner of last year's national competition] also discussed the issue with several representatives from the global company. The partner who accompanied me, Omar, got caught up in a number of conversations related to the subject, including one that was not very positive from the sales representative of India, but overall I felt that they gave me a sense of escapism about the situation in Israel and the ability to concentrate on the competition, even though I remained connected to the situation in Israel and even experienced an incident in which a police siren was activated on the street next to me and I automatically experienced a trigger for an alarm in Israel and felt the need to run to the shelter."
What did you submit in addition to the "Nova" cocktail, which led you to win?
"During the competition I served two drinks: the first was the one I served in Israel - variations on the classic cocktail Martini, depending on the challenge. I thought about hospitality consciousness as a bartender who experiences people ordering martinis in very different shapes because of the breadth of this cocktail family, so it was important for me to make a martini that could suit everyone. For the cocktail, I created vermouth (fortified and spiced wine) using Israeli wines and peanut ingredients associated with both classic martini (juniper, lemon, olives) and classic Israeli (hyssop, sage, thyme). The cocktail is called All martini."
What were the reactions?
"My judges were Mr. Ego Perrone, manager of the Connaught Bar in London and considered the World Martini Master, and the President of the Greek Wine Association, Andreas Mathidis. They both praised both the Israeli vermouth and the cocktail itself, and gave me the highest rating for this challenge out of all countries."
Do you think your win has anything to do with the situation in Israel?
"I don't believe that my win has anything to do with the situation in Israel, if only because the scoring definitions are very, very clear. The judges knew how to differentiate between what was happening in the world and what was happening in the competition. Beyond that, I got the most points for the first challenge."
Did you feel that you had some kind of duty or responsibility to serve as an ambassador in light of the situation?
"Unequivocally, I felt that I had not only the duty, but also the privilege to serve as Israel's ambassador and to give a propaganda side that is not necessarily related to the war, but rather to the values of the festival, which was cut short so horribly."
A final message?
"My message to the nation is that even bar people and the global hospitality industry can influence and create global advocacy – from the most beautiful moments to the most difficult ones. I believe that being a bartender and hospitality woman is not only a temporary job, but a meaningful profession, and I am happy to have the opportunity to represent the country and proud of what I have represented."
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