“A dash of tiki and a sprinkle of Sri Lanka”
OUR STORY
All our dishes are cooked using wood fire, either smoked or chargrilled. We use Sri Lankan ingredients to make unique flavours which are inspired by cultures from all over the world. Going back to the roots, our love for the charred flavours that fire & smoke brings out of ingredients, keeping it simple. At the heart of it, we are Sri Lankan and Sri Lanka has amazing ingredients, herbs, spices, vegetables, seafood, pork! Our influence has no limits, allowing ourselves the freedom of expression and exploration. Different cuisines taste amazing on the open flame, bringing out different elements of the dish.
The elements that make up the Smoke & Bitters cocktail ethos is a combination of a few key things. Taking massive inspiration from Don The Beach & Trader Vic’s, adding to it our love for bitters, a fascination with the part that smoky flavours can play in the cocktail game and modernising the approach. Bringing the abundance of indigenous Sri Lankan ingredients to the fore, and using old and current techniques of flavour creation to produce a marvel of house made ingredients. All this combined is the life blood flowing through the smoke & bitters bar.
FOUNDERS
Co - owner and head of the drinks program at Smoke & Bitters, Don started his adventure in the world of nightclubs and live music venues in London. Starting at the age of 18 as a bar-back at the iconic London venue “KOKO” in Camden Town he later went on to manage this 1800 capacity 7 bar venue. The dream as it were was to set up an idyllic venue on the beaches of Sri Lanka, to use the experience gathered in London and also to learn the Sri Lankan way. In Jan 2020 this dream became a reality as Smoke & Bitters was born.
Don Ranasinghe
Lahiru Perera
A key factor for Lahiru has always been about creating joyful experiences for people, this along with a serious passion for food, drinks and music made him the perfect fit for the hospitality business. The first steps of this happened in 2014 when he founded what went on to be a hugely successful chain of bar & restaurants called Zephyr, in Sri Lanka. As with all evolutions and through time working on the culinary aspects at Smoke & Bitters has become the natural placement, as co owner and head of food operations.
