Bar Nicolás
Opposite the walls of San Nicolás church there is another parish that dispenses its own miracles, albeit in a liquid form. Backed by the Amida Group, this ancient bar has made the city clock keep the same time as its own cocktail shaker. No conceptual shortcuts and no hollow experiments. At Bar Nicolás, the only trick that matters is shaking up the night with the precision of a watchmaker.
The main cog in this machine is Dani Hernández. His history with this establishment dates back five years, to that weird period in the aftermath of the pandemic, when customer numbers were restricted. That enforced pause worked in his favour, giving him the time to take the temperature of this space in central Palma. Now, he describes himself as a bartender in the strictest and most traditional sense. He likes to do justice to the classics and, working from that immutable base, he allows himself the freedom to play around without ever losing the identity of the original version.
This devotion to the roots of the art is embodied in the bar’s physical menu, which serves as an archive of memories of the Plaza del Mercado. This is no mere nostalgic embellishment: the menu displays historical photographs to proclaim its location. On the menu, the classic repertoire rules, but it co-exists with a selection of signature drinks to “inject the area with its own character”, so Hernández states, although he always adds his own individual touch, “a twist, a little detail of our own”.
The real proof of the pudding comes when a casual customer wanders into the bar. In the face of the customer’s indecision, the team operates what might almost be called a psychological protocol. Through a series of basic questions, the hostesses quickly map the person’s tastes (acidic, bitter, citrussy or fruity) and using these coordinates, the bar team mixes a cocktail “tailor made for the customer”.
Although Hernández admits that his personal choice depends entirely on his mood (leaping from Negroni to Mojito), the customer’s tastes take precedence. The most popular cocktails are the Basil Smash (a mixture of gin, lemon and fresh basil served over a block of ice), the Milk Punch made with Japanese whisky, yuzu, vanilla and matcha, the Sóller Spritz (Canonita, cava and grapefruit), and the Canonita Sour. All exemplify the sacred rule of the whole of Amida Group: aesthetics are as important as flavour.
All this choreography is performed on a vintage-style scenario on three levels. At street level the terrace, with fifteen tables, absorbs the constant flow from the city and channels the most challenging demand. A more intimate atmosphere reigns inside, in a room with barely five tables, while a stairway leads down to the final sanctuary — a cellar designed as a lounge where customers can take refuge from the hustle and bustle of the street.
Far from promising a revolution or claiming to reinvent the wheel in each glass, Bar Nicolás has learnt that mastering the past is the smartest way to safeguard the future. And anyone who is thirsty should come in and have a drink.
