Local favourite: a Noelani cocktail, the bar itself and a selection of bar snacks at The American Bar
(Picture: Handout/@lateef.photography)A lobster thermidor sub, chipotle chilli dog and homemade doughnuts are among the new food menu at the Stafford hotel’s American Bar.
The all-day offering has been devised by Lisa Goodwin-Allen — who oversees the hotel’s Game Bird restaurant, and is executive chef at the Michelin-starred Northcote in Lancashire — and takes inspiration from the bar’s roots across the Atlantic.
Alongside these are takes on other US favourites, from sticky buffalo wings and Montgomery cheddar mac and cheese bites, to a caesar salad and club sandwich.
“When tasked with launching a new menu for the American Bar, my first thought was that it should honour the bar’s history and long-standing American connections,” Goodwin-Allen said. “Also, they get bar food bang on in the States. On various trips over the years, especially in NYC, I have been so impressed with the bar food scene — often small bites but always big on flavour.”
The food menu launches in conjunction with a new cocktail list — though it’s rather more high-concept than the grub. The collection, titled Alchemy of Equilibrium, is “inspired by the balance between four classic elements: water, earth, air and fire, and highlights how when working in harmony they create the fifth element: quintessence”.
In practice, that results in drinks such as Noelani (rum, gunpowder tea, pear, ginger, honey and citrus), Pruina (tequila, Muyu jasmine verte liqueur, eucalyptus, grapefruit bitter and pineapple) and Anima (bourbon, pine, forest berries and orchard cordial).
The drinks — created by director of the American Bar, Benoit Provost, and director of mixology, Salvatore Megna — all priced around £20.
The American Bar at the Stafford — not to be confused with the identically named spot over at the Savoy — is one of London’s longest surviving American-style cocktail bars, and was extensively refurbished in 2018.
