“This menu is our love letter to impermanence. Rooted in timeless technique, each cocktail celebrates the integrity of a spirit and the fleeting beauty of seasonal ingredients…We’ve stripped away the unnecessary to reveal clarity, balance and character – one glass at a time…Sip while you can, some things are too good to last.”
Yes, the Four Seasons Tower Bridge Rotunda bar and lounge has a new head of bars, Michele Lomardi, and he has created a new, temporary cocktail menu to celebrate Summer. The hotel’s entrance is one of London’s most dramatic with its tall pillars and neoclassical Beaux-Arts styling and happily, the cocktail menu more than matches up to it. Inspired by the classics, there’s ten extravagant mixes to peruse and ponder over and if many of the ingredients are obscure, each cocktail attests to its origins in title. So, for example, there’s a Fig Honey Manhattan or a Strawberry Yoghurt Gimlet, there’s a Rhubarb Plum Negroni and a Toasted Corn Sour.
Choosing our first libation is a serious business. We eschew the spectacle of the vast circular space that houses us, the red dome that partially lights us. We send our eager server away not once but twice. We compare notes. We weigh options. We assess pros and cons. We offer mutual support and encouragement. We finally call our server back.
My Pistachio Raspberita offers more word play than most but the Don Julio Blanco Tequila confirms this is a Margarita with a sweet and fruity twist. It’s smooth, too, elegant even, with a more unexpected smoky aftertaste. The raspberry cordial gives it a light red complexion and there’s a nacho chip made from the cordial leftovers. Three button-like dollops of green pistachio butter add visual decoration and a subtle nuttiness to the sweet chip which should be eaten immediately otherwise the liquid will turn it soggy. My friend doesn’t make this mistake with his Coconut Oolong Highball and the dehydrated milk crisp that covers his cocktail’s top. He eats it straight away and confesses it reminds him of his youth. The coconut oolong offers a summer stream coolness and the Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky, a slightly spicy aftertaste. The whole is lightly carbonated for another classy concoction with subtle floral notes coming through the wood smoke cordial.
If you’re not hopping over to eat at the hotel’s Spring Bloom at Mei Ume, bar snacks are very much available. The Tuna Tostadas offer super fresh fish with light, crisp, almost crumbly, shells. Decorated with sliced green peppers, cuts of lettuce and a yellow flower, an under bed of guacamole pleasantly surprises. The Lobster Rolls are bite-sized. Each of the four has a finger-nail sized chunk of lobster tossed in lemon mayonnaise. The brioche roll is lightly toasted and the rolls disappear in the blink of an eye. The Aubergine Parmigiana Croquettes and the Crispy Chicken Japanese Bun are both served hot and are hearty affairs, created one imagines, to soak up the alcohol. The former, especially, offers a lovely, gooey mess with a specific crunch.
We decide another cocktail is in order and opt for the same: a Macadamia Banana Fashioned. With Flor de Caña 12 year old rum, hotel made macadamia oil, grappa based Amaro Nonino, Amontillado sherry and Banana juice, it’s a rich and luxurious mix which is sweet but savoury. It could work equally well on the Autumnal or Winter menu with its burnt lingering; most certainly, it begs to be sipped and savoured. A solitary white macadamia decorates the earthy cocktail and, on close inspection, a leafy image is burnt into the large ice cube. This old fashioned twist is one you’ll want to drink and drink and drink, order a few more of but watch out, as my friend pointed out; it’s slow but lethal. On our exit, we have to stop and double check that tennis racquets are bursting out of the impressive flower decorations and we’re not hallucinating. It’s an unusual decoration but it is Wimbledon. They are, therefore; we are not.
Contact Details
Website: www.fourseasons.com
Address: 10 Trinity Square, London EC3N 4AJ
