Mixology maestro: Salvatore Calabrese
(Picture: Handout)Famed bartender Salvatore Calabrese will open a new cocktail bar at a five-star London hotel next month.
Calabrese — affectionately known as “the Maestro”, with more than four decades of cocktail-crafting experience behind him — will helm Velvet, a new drinking spot in the Corinthia London hotel.
Taking the place of the hotel’s former bar, Bassoon, it will serve some of Calabrese’s best-known creations, from the Breakfast Martini to the Spicy Fifty, a concoction of vanilla vodka, elderflower cordial, lime juice, honey syrup and thin slices of red chili pepper.
Elsewhere, the menu is set to feature “sophisticated classics that have stood the test of time, alongside modern drinks which are now well established in the 2020s”, Calabrese said, although an exact list is yet to be unveiled. Non-alcoholic cocktails and small plates will also be on offer, though.
The bar itself has been designed by David Collins Studio, whose previous projects include the Connaught Bar and the Blue Bar at the Berkeley. Velvet will, unsurprisingly, feature velvet curtains, with “furniture upholstered in shades of red and royal blue” alongside convex mirrors and a central marble fireplace. A space for live music performances has also been incorporated.
“Corinthia London is such a glamorous hotel, and it deserves a sensational new bar,” said Calabrese, adding: “Velvet will be a seductive, intimate bar that we know will become one of the most desirable destinations in London.”
Calabrese began his bartending journey on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, and moved to London in 1980 to work at Dukes Hotel in Mayfair, where he became known for his Dry Martini. Since then, he has served drinks at the Lanesborough Hotel, as well as his own bars at the Fifty St James club and the Playboy club. He is also a best-selling author.
He will be joined at Velvet by bar manager Christian Maspes, a former bartender at The Savoy’s American Bar.
