NIGHTLIFE
Originally published on Friday, 28 November 2008
Sex, Vengeance, and a Dash of Fizz
Who is this mysterious, debonair professional alcoholic they call the Bar Fly? Who is this hero of the libation revolution? This undercover gin-lover, drinking his way from bar to bar, club to club, gutter to gutter, just to keep you UJ readers in the know? He is a shadow, a secret, an unknown champion of the bar-rumour.
That or a raging alcoholic. Let's see what gossip he's dug up this week.
Sweet and Sexy
Every year, your humble Bar Fly spends a small fortune on lingerie. Not for me, I assure you. But there is little that brings a smile to a woman’s face on Christmas morning than a box of shimmering satin and silk elegance. Being a chap, however, I am cursed with that ineffable inability to decide which colour best matches her eyes or which style will most suit her unique wares without garnering a slap. This, ladies, is the agony of being a man at Christmas. Which is why it’s so fortunate that Rémy Martin are hosting a veritable smattering of complimentary pairings at Selfridges and Harvey Nics. Combining their newest blend, the Coeur de Cognac, with chocolates from Green and Black or Valrohna, now I have an excuse to really take my time. Even if my judgment might be just a tad impaired by the time I make it out of there.
Coeur de Cognac at Selfridges Dec 6 (1-6pm) & 7 (12-5pm);
And at Harvey Nichols Dec 19-20 (12-6pm) & 21 (11am-5pm).
It’s a Reematch. Grown-Up Style.
Most bartenders usually get fired for breaking this much stuff. But if you haven’t managed to catch the phenomenon that is ‘It’s a Reematch, Beyatch’, then get down to Match EC1 this Sunday as some of the industries old hats (now all removed into the world of ambassadoring, consultancy and, yuck, journalism) get behind the bar to make a bunch of drinks against the clock. Forget the poncey flairing. Forget ‘the customer comes first’. Forget everything you’ve ever thought about ‘polite’ bartenders. There’s cash on the line for this one, my poor, sheltered reader (600 clams, no less), and no second place for the losers. Pure. Alcoholic. Genius.
It’s a Rematch Beeyatch! at Match, EC1 Nov 30
Merry Schhhristmas
All in the name of science, we humble Urban Junkies have been beavering away at our in-office vodka rack (leaving a certain one of our colleagues furious at the loss of his crystal-clear nectar) checking out all of Ben Reed’s unsettlingly simple, but rather tasty recipes that he’s been delivering us all week (like the one below). ‘Research’ can be such a drag sometimes. Sure we all desire a little gold-flecked, kumquat-rose garnish cocktail love some time in our lives. But then there are those day-to-day pleasures. Simple pleasures like a lengthy soak in hot bath, glass of bubbly in one hand. Or the silence that replaces your alarm on a Sunday morning. Or rounding of a long week with some decent company and a tall glass of ice, a decent slug of vodka, lashings of ‘Russchian’, and a squeeze of lime.
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For those of you that would still prefer a professional to make your drink, you can order your ‘Schweppes Russchian’ cocktail at selected bars in and around town, including The Soho Hotel.
Yours, contemplating a lace garnish for my Rémy Sidecar,
The Bar Fly
