Behind the Bar, стр. 6
Hotel bars are often the nexus of a space – the stage. They are where the action takes place and, often in the span of just 24 hours, can take on multiple roles and create a range of experiences. When we create communal spaces such as these, we apply many of the same concepts as set design.
For example, a sense of choreography – another element of theatre – can guide a guest’s journey. A path through a hotel’s public spaces with thresholds – transitional moments – are where the magic happens. For the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto and Electric Lemon restaurant at the flagship Equinox Hotel in New York, we sought out those key transitional moments in the lobby, enabling them to transcend to bar and lounge areas. This creates a feeling of movement and flow; the bar space becoming its own world, able to expand or contract depending on volume or occasion.
No. 8
Vieux Carré
CAROUSEL BAR & LOUNGE AT HOTEL MONTELEONE, NEW ORLEANS, USA
INGREDIENTS
7.5 ml (¼ fl oz) Bénédictine
7.5 ml (¼ fl oz) Cognac
15 ml (½ fl oz) Sazerac rye whiskey
7.5 ml (¼ fl oz) sweet vermouth
3 drops of Angostura bitters
3 drops of Peychaud’s bitters
lemon twist, to garnish
METHOD
Stir all the ingredients except the lemon twist in a mixing glass filled with ice. Strain into a chilled old fashioned glass and garnish with the twist of lemon.
After presiding over a Sicilian shoe factory, Antonio Monteleone, like many enterprising immigrants of his time, headed for America with unbridled opportunity on his mind. Settling in New Orleans, that ambition led to opening Hotel Monteleone, overlooking the French Quarter’s Royal Street, in 1886. This pool-topped grande dame is purportedly abundant in haunted lairs, but beyond that paranormal fascination there is the equally intriguing Carousel Bar & Lounge, where an ornate merry-go-round, seemingly plucked from a carnival of yesteryear, is the centrepiece. Set inside the whimsical contraption is a circular bar accompanied by 25 colourful chairs covered in illustrations of circus animals. Delightfully and imperceptibly, every 15 minutes it revolves around the room.
Transcending mere feel-good gimmickry, Carousel, spinning since 1949, has a luminous literary past. Southern American scribes such as Truman Capote (his mother went into labour with him at the hotel), Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner and Eudora Welty paid inspiration-inducing visits here. Entertainers including Liberace and Louis Prima, after their performances in the hotel’s now-shuttered nightclub The Swan Room, also slipped into the Carousel.
The boozy Vieux Carré, invented by the hotel’s head bartender Walter Bergeron in 1938, as well as that must-have-when-in-the-Big-Easy Sazerac remain sought-after concoctions from the charismatic, long-time barman Marvin Allen.
With ingredients that nod to France, Italy, the Caribbean and the United States, the Vieux Carré (which literally translates to ‘Old Square’, an homage to the French Quarter) reflects a lively, multicultural New Orleans.
No. 9
Mint Julep
ROUND ROBIN BAR AT INTERCONTINENTAL THE WILLARD WASHINGTON, DC, USA
Adapted by Jim Hewes
INGREDIENTS
60 ml (2 fl oz) bourbon
4–6 fresh mint leaves, plus a mint spring to garnish
1 teaspoon sugar
130 g (4½ oz/1 cup) crushed ice
30 ml (1 fl oz) San Pellegrino sparkling water
pinch of granulated or raw cane sugar, to garnish
METHOD
Using a spoon, muddler or the bottom of a butter knife, gently muddle the mint leaves and sugar with half of the bourbon in a Pilsner glass or brandy snifter for a minute or so until a ‘tea’ forms. Add half of the crushed ice and stir again, then top up the glass with the remaining crushed ice, keeping it tightly packed. Pour in the remaining bourbon and sparkling water, then garnish with a mint sprig and a sprinkling of sugar.
A Pennsylvania-Avenue landmark minutes away from the White House, the Willard has long been one of the capital’s choice gathering spots for the crème de la crème of politics. Since 1847, Round Robin Bar (in what was then called Willard’s City Hotel) has turned out cocktails for the likes of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman – the latter even called out the Willard’s ‘sumptuous bar’ in a rousing speech to Union troops – as well as to countless gossip-fuelled employees of lobbying firms and US presidential administrations past.
Jim Hewes began tending the polished mahogany circular bar in 1986, when the hotel reopened deep in the conservative Ronald Reagan years. He’s every bit the knowledgeable historian as he is the skillful bartender responsible for tweaking the beloved Mint Julep. The tufted leather, oak panelling and earthy green walls lined with portraits of such personalities of yore as Woodrow Wilson, expedited by a ‘Papa Doble’ (Hemingway Daiquiri) or Prohibition-era ‘Bee’s Knees’ in hand, all conjure a riveting sensation of covert meetings and political discourse.
NINETEENTH-CENTURY KENTUCKY STATESMAN HENRY CLAY WAS BESOTTED WITH THE MINT JULEP, FIRST INTRODUCING IT TO WASHINGTONIANS AT ROUND ROBIN. COME SUMMER, THE BAR CONTINUES TO PUMP OUT THE ICY WARM-WEATHER QUENCHER NOW SYNONYMOUS WITH DERBY DAY SOIRÉES. ALTHOUGH MOST VERSIONS OF THE COCKTAIL ARE SERVED IN A PEWTER CUP, ROUND ROBIN PREFERS A PILSNER GLASS OR BRANDY SNIFTER TO FULLY ILLUMINATE THE BEAUTY OF THE DRINK.
No. 10
Bloody Mary
KING COLE BAR AT ST REGIS NEW YORK, USA
INGREDIENTS
30 ml (1 fl oz) vodka
60 ml (2 fl oz) tomato juice
1 dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 pinches of celery salt
2 pinches of black pepper
2 pinches of cayenne pepper
3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
lemon wedge, to garnish
METHOD
Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice cubes and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Wealthy John Jacob Astor IV, the tycoon who perished in the Titanic disaster, opened The St Regis New York in 1904. The Beaux-Arts showcase of marble and Waterford crystal chandeliers was situated in a then-residential area of the city, much to the dismay of Vanderbilt Row denizens. If you’re seated at King Cole Bar, which opened at the St Regis in 1932, it is likely that the expertly made