28-32 top bars:Layout 1 21/7/08 13:46 Page 30
TOP BARS
LONDON
East but not least: Chinawhite’s A-list clientele spend up to £500 for a table Roaring success: first opened in the 1920s, Café de
Paris is a London institution
pineapple juice topped with Champagne and
layered with crème du mure)
AURA
David Serlui, mixologist and owner of Mayfair bar
Aura, brings a down-to-earth approach to the
running of his top-end establishment. He
eschews many of the cocktail-bar/nightclub
conventions, such as minimum spends and
excessively priced luxury cocktails. He explains:
“We don’t do expensive one-off cocktails for PR.
All our drinks are made with top spirits – who
Best-selling cocktail: Sunday Girl seating, but the focus on premium drinks is in no really needs a drink with Cristal Rosé?” He adds:
Most expensive cocktail: Deluxe Classic way diminished. The clubs’ various bars each “We don’t do minimum spend, but we do expect
Champagne Cocktail, £22 (Sugar crystal, have their own focus drinks-wise, with some at least two bottles bought per table.” In this last
Hennessy XO, Grand Marnier 150 Cuvée du emphasising the classics, and others offering a respect, Aura follows the trend, with bottle sales
Cinquantenaire, orange bitters, Angostura more contemporary selection. In terms of wine, of major importance, and up to six brands in
bitters, Laurent-Perrier 1999) the Kingly Club offers 50 different Champagnes, each category available in this format.
and over 250 wines. Best-selling spirit: Vodka
KINGLY CLUB Best-selling spirit: Rum Best-selling spirit brand: Grey Goose
The Kingly Club is firmly fixed as one of the big Best-selling spirit brand: Akvinta Best-selling cocktail: Pornstar
names when it comes to London drinking, a Most expensive cocktail: £250 – The club
name that now refers to two venues since the offers a range of “classics plus extras” allowing CHINAWHITE
opening of its new club in St Martin’s Lane in customers to customise classic cocktails using Another London club-scene veteran, Chinawhite
May this year. Dezzi McCausland’s second Kingly premium spirits. is as A-list as ever. With its unassuming entrance
operation, all three storeys of it, may work on a just off Piccadilly Circus, the club, now in its 11th
larger scale, incorporating three dining rooms, a CAFE DE PARIS year, is still going strong. Spirits, Champagne,
lounge area, restaurant, VIP area and outdoor The Café de Paris club is a veteran of the London bottle sales and cocktails are all the order of the
bar scene. It may have first opened its doors in day at this Eastern-themed nightclub. The
1924, but it remains a force to be reckoned with. cocktail list features classics alongside the club’s
WE DON’T DO EXPENSIVE
Its modern incarnation opened in 2002 under own creations, with an emphasis on seasonal
ONE-OFF COCKTAILS FOR PR.
new ownership, accompanied by a significant and fresh ingredients. Bottle sales account
makeover to its interior. Bottle sales of spirits are for 80% of sales, making this a significantly
ALL OUR DRINKS ARE MADE
compulsory on booked tables, as is a minimum higher priority. Main-room tables have a
spend of £500. The list also includes a significant minimum £100 spend, with VIP tables running
FROM TOP SPIRITS – WHO
number of Champagnes in various sizes. higher than this.
REALLY NEEDS A DRINK
Cocktails also come in various sizes – carafes of Biggest selling spirit: Vodka
both cocktails and shooters are available (at £65 Biggest selling spirit brand: Sputnik Vodka
WITH CRISTAL ROSE? – and £100, respectively). Biggest selling cocktail: Signature cocktail
David Serlui, Aura
Best-selling spirit: Vodka Chinawhite, as well as Hibiscus Royal (edible
Best-selling spirit brand: Grey Goose wild Hibiscus flower with a raspberry flavour
Most expensive cocktail: Boudoir (fresh topped with ). sb
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