The Tale Bar at Playboy Club London (Bar)

Top 10 things you need to know about Salvatore's at the Playboy Club -
 
1) Having overindulged on cocktails during the London Cocktail Week, I didn’t have being sent to another cocktail bar high on my priority list. But when Hugh Hefner invites you for a drink, it’s a crime to refuse, especially when the drinks are made by Salvatore Calabrese.

2) Salvatore is simply the God of cocktail making. He famously broke the Guinness book of world record with the world’s most expensive cocktail, Salvatore’s Legacy. At £5,500 a glass it contained rare liqueurs with a combined age of 730 years.

3) Not at my shameless best, I ordered his signature, rather than his vintage, cocktails. Price-wise it’s hundred times cheaper, but quality-wise the cocktails are hundred times better than your average high street bar.

4) I disdain chilli cocktails; that burning sensation is equivalent to self-harm. Not the spicy Fifty cocktail here, it’s got the kick without the burn. Neutralised no doubt by the honey, elderflower and vanilla.

5) The cocktail is reminiscent of the Playboy bunnies here: hot, accessible and welcoming. Although it is a rather retro look that’s reminiscent of a 1980s bygone era.

6) The award for the best named cocktail goes to carbonated Corpse Reviver #2014. A few of these will turn zombies back into humans. It shows a real understanding of classic cocktails being able to give them a modern twist.

7) Salvatore’s isn’t all about old school classics. The bar sets the trend for the future as well, using new ingredients like horseradish soda and tamarind-infused tequila. You simply won’t find these cocktails anywhere else apart from the house of Hugh.

8) With so many cocktails and bunnies to dazzle the eyes, there’s barely any time to contemplate food. The execution of their bar menu is about as methodical as their cocktail making. They don’t do simple: its Wagyu or lobster sliders here. Yes, those lucky Wagyu cows that are massaged daily and fed beer or sake.

9) “Life needs to be lived with a little style,” Hugh once said. Everything about this bar shouts style from the elegant décor, the vintage spirits on display, down to the specifically designed cocktail glasses.

10) My life as Fluid London bar critic is now complete; upon leaving, I was handed the business card of the Maestro himself, Salvatore Calabrese....read more