Cocktails

Hot Mess Lollo W Melbourne

MELBOURNE

Opening its doors in Australia’s cultural capital, W Melbourne’s bold debut is reinforced by its distinctive line-up of restaurants and bars – adding to the city’s impressive dining and drinking landscape. Helmed by chef Adam D’Sylva, allday restaurant Lollo celebrates the chef’s Italian and Indian roots with imaginative dishes, while creative cocktails devised by Garth Welsh, W Melbourne’s Director of Beverage & Food, are designed to lift spirits using flavourful ingredients and high-impact visuals.

“We try to be playful and fun, but it all starts with a solid foundation of carefully selected ingredients, put together with care,” explains Welsh. “We are looking for bold but balanced drinks with locally made products playing a starring role.”

Capturing attention with its rosemary scented smoke bubble, Hot Mess is testament to the team’s thoughtful curation process and willingness to experiment. “This particular drink blends the caramel and sweet and spicy notes of Buffalo Trace with Amaro Montenegro, which adds balance with its bitter elements, while the pineapple provides tropical fruitiness, and the Champagne adds a touch of dryness to lighten it all up,” says Welsh.

Showcasing exotic and complex flavours, the bubble adds a final flourish, with the concoction served in a Riedel cocktail glass. Welsh concludes: “The glassware is luxurious and elegant, but the bubble, the name and the drink itself is playful and rebellious, just like W Melbourne.”

Suzie Wong Zoku The Hari

HONG KONG

Making its debut in Hong Kong, Zoku – a restaurant and terrace bar at The Hari – dispenses with tradition to serve up a refreshing take on Japanese cuisine. Under the guidance of Chef de Cuisine Phillip Pak, the restaurant uses seasonal produce to reimagine classics for the modern palate, with highlights ranging from sushi and tempura to kushiyaki, served in a vibrant setting designed by Tara Bernerd.

To pair with the food, Bar Manager Sabrina Cantini Budden has created a selection of imaginative, multisensory cocktails that draw inspiration from Japanese flavours and culture. There’s Wabi-Sabi, a pluminfused vodka mix inspired by the traditional Japanese aesthetic of imperfection, and Hanafubuki, an orangeflavoured gin inspired by the cherry blossoms that come into bloom each spring.

Awakening all of the senses, Suzie Wong is inspired by the heroine of Richard Mason’s 1957 novel The World of Suzie Wong. Set in a fictional hotel in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district, the book tells the story of a Chinese prostitute who falls in love with an aspiring English artist. At Zoku, the romantic drama is translated as a cheeky concoction of whisky, rose syrup, cucumber and yuzu soda, finished with a spritz of rose water that is sprayed tableside from a vintage atomiser. The cocktail list is accompanied by a wide variety of sakes, shochus, Japanese whiskies and fine wines that will carry the party into the night.

© Lakshmi Harilela

STAR

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