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Scarfes Bar

London

Jazz-age bar serving consummate charm

Inside Rosewood London, sleek, secret-club-like Scarfes Bar enchants with artworks dreamed up by Gerald Scarfe. The bar team's menus always draw from the legendary local cartoonist and illustrator's oeuvre, and most recently they turned their attention to Heroes and Villains, Scarfe's 2003 exhibition at the nearby National Portrait Gallery. Scarfe's caricatures of 10 notable personalities spawned a duo of contrasting cocktails that capture the fine line between hero and the villainous alter ego.

Agatha Christie, for instance, inspired the 4.50 from Paddington, a gin and tonic twist with gin, Chinotto honey, Acqua di Cedro and zesty tonic, while the murders that gave rise to her literary mythology also birthed the Whodunnit, a sidecar riff bringing together Rémy Martin 1738 Cognac and a wild sour blackberry and kumquat aperitif. Likewise, Margaret Thatcher's infamously firm leadership style culminated in the Iron Lady, a clarified concoction marrying whisky, chocolate wine, fig leaf and citrus. On the flip side, the Divided Kingdom reimagines the silky white Russian by uniting vodka with Alphonso mango cream, acorn and bitters.

Beyond the drinks, Scarfes seduces with its Old-World setting. The fireplace, the illuminated whiskey cabinet and plush seating vignettes, accentuated by live jazz, plunge guests into a drawing room of another era.

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