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Century Grand

Phoenix

Century Grand boasts one of the most unusual concepts on the North American bar scene. Stepping in from Phoenix’s desert streets, guests are instantly transported to a bustling train platform in bustling 1920s New York City.

Oaks draped in Spanish Moss rise up and a station housing an apothecary sits to one side, a train carriage on the other. The immersive scene was conceptualised by an ex-Disney ‘imagineer’: a breeze blows through the ‘outdoor’ areas; stars are visible in the ‘sky’; the train’s interior is a remarkable simulation of a vintage carriage in motion.

But Century Grand is more than just a visual theme. Jason Asher and Jax Donahue have also crafted a world-class bar programme built around culinary roots and narrative structure. The duo are devotees of craft and technology, spending weeks developing drinks in an immense onsite lab. The result is a cocktail menu populated by inventive, complexly engineered potions such as Easterly Winds (gin, Thai basil, Italian herbal liqueur, bitters, clarified lemon juice, cinnamon, grapefruit oil) or Nobody Wants Me (tequila, mint-infused gin, creme de pampelmousse, peach, pineapple, clear rhubarb, sumac, lime, grapefruit oils, pink peppercorn dust). For those who prefer a single ingredient, the venue touts one of the country’s deepest whiskey lists. For good measure, the location houses Undertow, a third venue built around an immersive nautical experience. Regardless of preferred transport, Century Grand is a great destination.

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