Pharmacy is a smart, hip bar and restaurant faintly
resembling a vintage drug store. Patrons sit on aspirin-shaped
stools and order exotic painkillers like the Emergency Ward 2,
classic remedies such as the Passionate Caipirinha (the famed
Brazilian cocktail updated with the juice of a passion fruit), or
by-the-glass vintages from around the world.
Detroit, a basement bar in Covent Garden, is cool -
literally - and stylish with curved cavelike walls and relaxing
grotto ambience. The 70-plus custom-designed cocktails include the
tart and tasty Detrotpolitan, consisting of Absolute Mandarin and
Stolnaya Cranberry vodka, cranberry juice, and orange bitters.
There's also music and dining, but it's the cocktails that hold
center stage.
HOTEL BARS
By far the most civilized stopovers on any
London cocktail safari
are the upscale hotel bars. One of the best is the
Library
Bar at The Lanesborough. Presiding is Salvatore Calabrese, an
alchemist whose martinis are flawless, not to mention a
breathtaking $16 apiece. But it's his liquid history, as he calls
it, that "brings tears to your eyes." For example, depending on its
age and rarity, a snifter from his collection of 1796 Napoleon
Cognacs fetches as much as $1,200.
Calabrese's Italian countryman, Peter Dorelli, has been manager of
the
American Bar at The Savoy Hotel for 35 years. The
silver-haired storyteller can regale you with tales of pouring for
the likes of Sinatra, Connery, and Burton.
President of the UK
Bartenders Guild, Dorelli has memorized more than 700 recipes and
wields a cocktail shaker like a baton. "A bar is theatre - a
living, breathing thing," says Dorelli. "We are the performers, you
are the audience, and we're here to entertain you."