Back in the 1960s, those who hankered for a less raucous environment than the basement discotheque (one of the first in Switzerland), went to the Renaissance Bar instead. There, they likely encountered barkeep Mario da Como, who arrived in 1963 and stayed for more than 40 years. Maybe they even spotted Alfred Hitchcock, who spent myriad holidays at the Palace, Audrey Hepburn or Marlene Dietrich. Renaissance Bar carries on, and sitting by the crackling fireplace, a cigar paired with one of the classic libations from the A–Z ‘Cocktail Library’, is amped chalet sipping at its best.
Long-time barman Mario da Como no longer holds court at Badrutt’s Palace, but his jovial presence is still felt at the Renaissance Bar, playfully dubbed ‘Mario’s Bar’. His bright ‘St Moritzino’, first spawned in 1972 from an embargoed bottle of South African rum gifted to the hotel’s then-owner Andrea Badrutt, has since metamorphised into a vodka tipple. It remains a favourite among the hotel’s discriminating clientele.
No. 22
Bellini
BAR LONGHI AT THE GRITTI PALACE, VENICE, ITALY
Created by Giuseppe Cipriani, Harry’s Bar
INGREDIENTS
30 ml (1 fl oz) peach purée
90 ml (3 fl oz) chilled prosecco
METHOD
Gently stir the ingredients directly in a coupe glass.
No matter how many times they gape at it, the straight-out-of-a-fable Grand Canal buoys visitors to Venice, especially if it’s seen from the amorous environs of The Gritti Palace. Built in the 15th century by the Pisani family, this gothic palazzo, converted into a hotel in 1895, was once the residence of the 16th-century Doge Andrea Gritti. VIPs such as W. Somerset Maugham, Elizabeth Taylor and Greta Garbo were all devotees of the enchanting property, and they’d certainly still be pleased to wake up to the silk damask walls. With its terrazzo-etched mirrors and Murano-glass chandeliers, Bar Longhi, yet another of Hemingway’s preferred hide-outs, has the pristine aura of an oil painting come to life. In the summer, the seat that everyone wants, though, is on Riva Lounge terrace, facing Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute with a ‘Bellini’ (the uplifting drink was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry’s Bar, a few minutes’ walk away) or a ‘Basil-ica’ (Old Tom gin, lemon juice, St-Germain liqueur, basil, orange bitters). As the sun sets, the water gleams, and you never want to leave the city.
No. 23
Apricot Sour
STRAVINSKIJ BAR AT HOTEL DE RUSSIE, ROME, ITALY
Created by Paolo Danini and Barbara Simmi
INGREDIENTS
25 ml (¾ fl oz) The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve
35 ml (1¼ fl oz) apricot distillate (Stravinskij Bar uses Capovilla Distillato di Albicocche from Vesuvio)
12 ml (1 scant tablespoon) vanilla syrup
2 teaspoons organic apricot jam (jelly)
20 ml (⅔ fl oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 dashes of Angostura bitters, to garnish
fresh apricot wedge, to garnish
METHOD
Shake all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice, then strain back into an empty shaker. Dry shake, then double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a few drops of Angostura bitters and the apricot wedge affixed to garnish.
Piazza del Popolo, one of Rome’s most remarkable squares, was spiffed up in the 1820s by architect Giuseppe Valadier. Steps from it, he completed a building during the same time period that became a hotel, gaining the favour of Russian nobility and Jean Cocteau, and it eventually morphed into the headquarters of a top Italian television station. In 2000, Sir Rocco Forte swooped it up and added it to his hotel collection and soon a stay at Hotel de Russie was as coveted as those at Eternal City legends the Eden and Hassler.
Much of its mystique comes from the terraced gardens, where guests eat cacio e pepe ravioli surrounded by roses and orange trees. Stravinskij Bar is an equally splendorous al fresco enterprise, with patrons taking to the courtyard and sitting down under shady umbrellas to inventive aperitivo-hour tipples such as a Bloody Mary that swaps tomato juice for perky carrot, and the ‘Modern Fizzy’, a highball pairing saffron-infused Cognac and rum with honey-black peppercorn syrup and cardamom liqueur. In gloomy weather, la dolce vita persists; dotted with statuary, the interior of Stravinskij Bar is an upscale ode to ancient Rome.
No. 24
Tesoro
PULITZER’S BAR AT PULITZER AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
INGREDIENTS
50 ml (1¾ fl oz) Ron Zacapa 23 rum
20 ml (⅔ fl oz) Taylor’s 10-Year-Old tawny port
10 ml (⅓ fl oz) Grand Marnier
3 dashes of Aphrodite bitters
1 barspoon maple syrup
1 strip of orange zest, to garnish
METHOD
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass, then add ice cubes and stir for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled rocks glass filled with ice cubes and add the orange zest to garnish.
By 1960, the gloriously narrow 17th- and 18th-century canal houses in which Amsterdam merchants and aristocrats once cavorted had sadly deteriorated. Peter Pulitzer, the visionary grandson of the Hungarian-born, American newspaper titan Joseph Pulitzer, saw potential in reviving them and snatched up 12 to transform into a five-star hotel with an unlikely partner: the modest American motel and restaurant chain, Howard Johnson’s. Eventually, the maze of homes and warehouses between the Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht canals grew to 25. Several owners later, the Pulitzer – original wood beams intact – was reinvented in 2016. Fortunately, this time around there was Pulitzer’s Bar, a purple-tinged respite for fireside conversations, with plush armchairs that comfort after an exhausting day of sightseeing (the hotel’s prime Nine Streets location means many museums are within walking distance) and imaginatively themed cocktail menus that celebrate, say, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express with cocktails like ‘The Doctor’ (whisky, whey, sherry and genmaicha tea). Catch a glimpse of the golden, geometric-patterned bar sparkling against the dark walls, and it feels like you’ve stepped inside one of Rembrandt’s moody paintings.
At Pulitzer’s Bar, Tesoro is served aged, but it is also satisfyingly heady in its à-la-minute form.
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