REVIEW – VERTILON, VERTA HOTEL, BATTERSEA

Vertilon is the new Bar at The Hotel Verta in Battersea, the Hotel right next door to Londons only Heliport, just across the Thames from  Chelsea Harbour.

A bit of a pain to get to, and from the outside fairly anonymous, once inside however, fans of modernist design are in for a treat. The image presented is one that could be any time from the late 1920s through to the 1950s – but missing out the brutalism in favour of comfort and style. Vertilon is situated upstairs from Patrisey (the main restaurant) on the Mezzanine level, with views of both Chelsea and the Heliport. That may not sound like much, but watching sleek Helicopters land and take off definitely adds a little something to the experience.

A quick look at the Menu confirms that although in “sarf London”, we are still in a Hotel that aspires to Five star ratings – its not cheap, with cocktails from £10.00 to £14.00, however, the real question is “are they worth it”?

The answer is yes – we had a couple of standards – an Aviation for me, and a Mojito for the Lady P. The Aviation , a thirties classic of Gin, Maraschino and Lemon juice was perfectly balanced, and the Mojito was spot on. the only quibble would be the slight delay in service, caused by the fact that we chose to arrive in the middle of the hotel launching its Sunday Brunch ( one for Wandsworths “Scrummy Mummies, no doubt).

I then went off menu, as I fancied an Old Fashioned made with their Diplomatico Rum, and Miss p chose the Bloody Mary – which she pronounced “excellent”. It was worth studying their back bar, which has a great range of Rums, Bourbons, Tequilas Gins and Vodkas, but I feel is a little short on Single Malts, although to be fair, all regions are represented.

The only other letdown was our unsmiling waitress, who was not enjoying her day in a rather obvious way. However the other members of staff we observed, and the pink-shirted Head Bartender who mixed our drinks more than made up for this little glitch.

Had we had time, we would have stayed longer, but alas, we had to be on our way…

So, if you are south of the river and in need of a decent drink in decent surroundings, Vertilon is the place to try…

Mulled Fusion…

“Christmastime is here by golly, dissaproval would be folly…”

Here we go, into midwinter, and long nights, making drinking a more attractive pastime, and with special reasons to raise a glass…

One thing always seems to bug us barkeeps though; Mulled Wine.

Almost without exception, Bartenders hate making Mulled Wine – we think its the Kitchens Job, as you need a hob, and anyway, its a hassle. Strange to say, we don’t feel this way about, ooh, The Old Fashioned – another time consuming gem, or the Mojito…

Mulled Wine, GluhWein, Vin Chaud – its everywhere this time of year, and hell, it works a keeping the cold out, and when made well, tastes lovely.

I had to create something for the season, and was looking for something Christmasy and still over ice, whilst being incredibly warming at the same time…

The Mulled Fashioned

4 Barspoons of Mulled Port Reduction

50ml Remy Martin VSOP

10ml Cointreau

2 Dashes Fee Orange Bitters

METHOD:

As with a standard Old Fashioned, using the Port reduction as your sugar, slowly add ice, reduction and cognac whilst stirring together constantly. Add the Cointreau, give a little stir, drop in the Bitters. Garnish with Cinnamon stick and a large Orange twist.

This drink has a pleasing ruby colour, and the spices in the reduction give it that paradoxical warming feel, even though its over ice.

For the reduction, gather the mulling spices as well as Orange Peel, to taste. Put double your required amount of Port in a pan with them, add loads of sugar, and simmer until you get the rich dark red spicy syrup you need. It is a a little lengthy, but hey, this is your Heston Blumenthall moment right?

Enjoy!

New Job, new place…

Well, so far so good. A new Bar in a new hotel, and the team is pretty keen, with the exception of two people…

One, a young woman, has, after five weeks here, (a week longer than yours truly) never broken into a smile unless she can report something wrong. She has told me all about the failings we have in this new hotel, but as yet has no answers, or seemingly any ability to surmount them. She has already told me that she is simply awaiting a position in another hotel, which will open in January. Apparently she will be a supervisor in The Bar there, and I wish them all the best of luck, as she cannot make  a drink, nor can she work with others. Actually I know the Head bartender there, a nice chap with great skill, and I hope he has better luck. Sadly, all too many in this business get caught up in their own negativity – its easy to do, but fatal if you want to be the best. In effect, it looks as if she took a job with us merely to fill in a few weeks before this other job opened up. This is annoying, as there are many out there who would jump at the chance to work in a high-end bar. I guess the writing was on the wall when in discussion of her former workplaces she had nothing good to say about any of them, whether five-star Park Lane joints or more modest places, and the fact that almost all her previous years of London experience had been via agencies.

The other individual is more interesting…

A young, intelligent man, he has a lot of experience in high-end nightclubs, and so is finding the pace in a low-profile Hotel opening a lot quieter than he is used to. He has a fairly good amount of knowledge- both with drinks and in general, but has that easily defineable quality of those under 25 – arrogance.

Quite simply he is able to put just about everybody’s nose out of joint, and is always the first to bitch about anything – generally staff food. As such, he was the ideal candidate for the Staff committee, yet failed to turn up to its first meeting. Now I am sure that he can be moulded, and can learn to work with others, so he is redeemable, however, it just goes to show that if you open a bar (as the owners did) with no head barman for the first 4 weeks, things can slide pretty fast….

Got a Job!

After three months of searching, applying, and interviewing, I finally found a job! This means more money for reviews, and I will update people on how it goes. Am now Head Mixologist at a new luxury small hotel in London.

I will try to post more about how this place develops, and what we are doing here.

Cheers,

Doctordrink

Review: Zilouf, Upper St. Islington

Hey ho, here we go…

Zilouf kind of screams “Islington!” at you, but generally in a good way – not too far from the fantastic Ottolenghi, and a stones’ throw from the awesome “Bar with no name” of Tony Congliaro fame, this place is surrounded by stiff competition. Not that you would know it, as we arrived at around six – thirty on a Friday night, to find most tables full in the cosy shopfront bar, and those not full were reserved. Oops!

Luckily finding a table, we studied the short but accomplished menu, listening to the sounds of old Rock n Roll and Soul classics. The crowd at Zilouf is a mixed bunch – young and old, the obviously trendy and the just finished work. The bar staff exude happiness with their work, and the young waitstaff are helpful to a fault. The three of us, my girlfriend (the lovely Lady P, her friend Miss L, and myself), studied the menu and chose long drinks – two Raspberry Mules and an Elderflower and Ginger concoction for me.  I ordered at the bar, and was pleasantly surprised to have our three drinks converted into four, it being happy hour – two for one became four for two. “We’ll keep it in the fridge for you, just let us know when you want it” bless them, and with cocktails at around £7.00, this was a welcome gesture, happily given. The drinks were well made, and balanced, although I found the Elderflower & Ginger a little too lemony, and with not enough Ginger for myself. Our drinks were professionally and quickly served, and follow-up orders taken promptly.

The restaurant was doing good business, with a menu best described as fusion – normally this term leads Doctordrink to run and hide, but the food is evidently well executed, and very popular. as drinking was our main bent, we just had the fantastic double-cooked chips, served with wasabi mayo. a finer example of huge, perfectly cooked wedge-like chunks of potato would be hard to find.

All in all, a great little Bar and Restaurant, serving stylish food and drink at reasonable prices – whats not to like?

Gin, spirit of London…

Ok, hands up – Gin is my white spirit of choice. I just simply love the juniper- laden scent of Tanqueray, the dryness of Beefeater, and the floral notes of Bloom. To my tastebuds, it beats Vodka into a cocked hat – although it could be said that Gin is really flavoured Voddy anyway. ( Don’t say that near me mind you, you could set me off…)

In the Middle Ages, Alpine monks would infuse grain alcohol with Juniper berries as a form of medicine, and as the basic recipe spread, by early modern times, this concoction was taken to the hearts of the population of The Netherlands. this spirit became a staple to the Dutch, who corrupted the French “Genevre” into “Geneva” . It was still a long way from the crystal clear dry beverage we know today, and most Geneva was stored in oak barrels, gaining colour and a little vanilin flavour along the way. Some Geneva was aged, producing “Zeer Oude” (very old) Geneva – still a traditional Dutch drink to this day. Most Geneva would be sweetened with cane sugar at this time.

DUTCH COURAGE & LOYAL CITIZENS

During the religious wars of the seventeenth century, English soldiers and mercenaries fought across the Low Countries of northwest Europe – The Netherlands in particular. Soldiers being what they are, they picked-up a taste for the local brew, which they noticed was drunk before battle – “Dutch Courage”.

With the coup that put William of Orange on the throne, Geneva drinking soon became a fashionable way to show loyalty to the new regime amongst the ruling elite. The fashion quickly spread to the lower classes, particularly those in Britains largest port – London, where by the mid- eighteenth century, there were estimated to be 4,000 gin distilleries and shops, catering for a population of less than one million! As the imported (and more expensive) spirits such as Brandy were beyond the reach of ordinary people (save smugglers), we had our first drug epedemic…

GIN LANE & BEER STREET…

If you ever wondered where all the Alcopop panics and public concern over booze started, then look no further than Gin. By the mid-Eighteenth century, there were over 5,000 gin stills in London alone ( with a population of under a million), producing anything from high class product to rotgut turpentine. Explosions were frequent in this unregulated cottage (or rather hovel) industry, and Gin had definitely gone down class, although the medicinal side of gin was dubiously upheld by it being “Mothers Ruin” – in effect, if you drank enough, you would either miscarry, or Gin was used to mask the pain of backstreet abortions. In fact, forget alcopops, Gin was the Crack of its day.

This sorry state of affairs led to the regulation and licensing of distillation in the Gin Acts, and to the start of the first Temperance movement, curiosly enough, in the early movement, Beer was seen as the healthy alternative (sensible, given the state of drinking water), and this is encapsulated in two of the most famous illustrations of the time – Hogarth’s “Gin Lane and Beer Street”. In its early days, Temperance did not mean outright prohibition.

However Gin took an awfully long time to recover from the image of “Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for tuppence”, and it was the invention of the column still by Anneus Coffey that helped to bring Gin into the Industrial age…

Gin cleans up its act…

With the advent of column stills, the whole process of distilling became safer and much easier to regulate, as the industrial process required the kind of expertise and capital that simply could not be found by small producers working in backyards. Names such as Gordons, Greenalls, Tanqueray, Burroughs and Booths started to dominate the trade, and a new style came to dominate tastes in the Nineteenth Century. Drier, with a more pronounced citrus note, “London Dry Gin” became the standard – largely the Gin we know today, although for worldwide sales, the biggest seller was one with a more coriander based gin – Plymouth. It was Plymouth Gin that The Royal Navy carried on every vessel, and that fueled countless Pink Gin parties in what was then the worlds largest Navy.

Gin also became popular as our Empire grew in the east, particularly with Jacob Schweppes invention of a Quinine based fizzy drink- Indian Tonic Water. Gin and Tonics were guzzled down by the administrators of The Raj as a way to stave off Malaria, or, if you read George Orwells “Burmese Days”, boredom.

This was also the beginning of Cocktail culture – The Martinez, the Tom Collins, The Pink Gin all came into existence by the mid-century, and gin regained  some of its former respectability, not least due to these concoctions.

My personal favourite is the Pink Gin – take a small wine glass, or a martini glass, drop in three dashes of angostura bitters. Now cup the glass in your hands and swirl, coating the glass and releasing the aroma. Opinions differ at this point, but I like to shake the bitters out, leaving a pinky residue. Add 50ml of chilled Plymouth Gin, and serve with a small jug of chilled still water to add at your discretion. The secret is in the release of the aromas of angostura, and I find this a very pleasant aperatif, though be warned – like the Martini, more than two can be too many!

Due to industrial methods, advances in technology and the dominance of Free trade at the time, Gin became the dominant white spirit before 1914. The Gin and It, Gin and French, Martini, Martinez, Collins and Rickey were all important libations of the day. Then, in August 1914, the whole economic and political structure of the World cracked, and by 1919, everything changed…

TOMMY GUNS AND BOOTLEG COPIES…

In 1919, The U.S Congress passed possibly the single most stupid legislation ever sanctioned by a Democracy, an Act that had consequences far and away from its intentions, criminalising millions at a stroke, and boosting organised crime into unheard of financial power. The Volstead Act prohibited the sale, consumption and production of alcohol in all but medicinal circumstances. A Republican President of the time called it ” the greatest social experiment in history”, proving that pretty much all Republicans since 1920 have been idiots.

The supply of all alcohol now was the province of such great human beings as Machine Gun Kelly, Dutch Schultz, Al Capone, and one Joseph.P. Kennedy(hey, I never said Democrats were better…), father of JFK.

At the top end of the scale, the rich had stockpiled choice wines and spirits in their cellars, and could afford to go abroad to Europe or Cuba to drink, and pay through the nose to smuggle the best stuff through Canada or Florida.

The rest of us made do with the hooch made in illicit stills, of varying quality and sometimes deadly. Wood Alcohol was often mixed with essences to create “Bathtub Gin”, which would then be masked in cocktails of course, to hide the unpleasant taste. You still find an echo of this in the various cheap own- brand “Cold Compound” Gins in some supermarkets – nasty but not deadly.

The one happy outcome of this debacle was the astounding growth of cocktail culture outside the USA. The Savoy American Bar in London, Harrys Bar in Paris, La Floridita in Cuba all became Meccas for serious imbibers across the world. The interwar period is one I always think of as being dominated by “The Two Harrys” – MaCclehone in Paris, and Craddock in London. Along with many others, it was they who set the golden standards   by which we are all judged today, drinks such as The Bloody Mary, Sidecar, White Lady, Aviation, Mojito and Negroni all came into their own, as writers artists and wealthy wastrels crowded through the nightspots of Paris, London and Berlin, along with Jazz, Modernism, Cinema and Surrealism. Josephine Baker, Hemmingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Brecht, Weil, Hollywood stars and the like all coalesced to create the lasting image of the roaring twenties, most with a glass in one hand, and a cigarette in the other…

YOU’RE THE TOPS…

With the Election of Roosevelt in 1930, Prohibition was repealed, with the great man himself mixing an Old Fashioned on newsreel to celebrate. FDR was also a great Martini fan, and with cocktail culture now legal stateside, Hollywood glamour presented the world with images of sleek sexy people, enjoying a libation now and then

…once again, a world war, fascism and communism stuffed all that up…

DARK TIMES, THEN THE DAWN…

Following the declaration of War in 1939, HM Government took the production of alcohol into state control as part of a planned war economy. By 1941, there was basically only one type of Gin available due to the effects of the U-boat blockade – “Victory Gin”.

High class spirits were exported by the government to offset Lend-Lease agreements, so domestic consumption was not a high priority. Victory Gin was pretty foul – a cold-compound that barely resembled its prewar cousins, although often bottled under their names. This basic spirit was described by George Orwell in 1984, when Winston Smith pours himself a cup of the “oily” unpalatable substance.

American glamour (and dollars) saved the image however, and gin was present at all the wartime conferences between “The big three”- Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. On tasting a Martini at Teheran, Stalin pronounced it “too cold” for his taste, no doubt raising a wry smile from both FDR and Winston, no mean tipplers themselves.

With the end of the war, and with Britains’ economy in tatters, the return of high quality Gin was sensibly less of an issue than founding the NHS, or the start of the Cold War, and so it took until the 1950s for production to really get going. By then however, Gin had worldwide competition from another white spirit – one that “left you breathless”…

COLD WAR RIVALS AND WHITE WHISKEY…

In the 1940s, Heublein Inc in the USA started to promote a product that it had licensed from one Pierre Smirnov, former chief distiller to the Russian Czar – Vodka. Unsure of how the public would react, it first termed it “White Whiskey”, in an attempt to mask its Russian heritage as the Cold War began. It took the advent of cocktails such as The Moscow Mule and smart celebrity-led marketing, but Vodka became established as a major international spirit, and competitor to Gin.

Just one thing before we start…

Why do we insist on putting up with crappy service in this town? And why do we, the servers put up with such arrogance – both from the public and from reviewers, who have probably never wiped a table? Even when mummy/the au pair was busy?

Here is a manifesto – well, more a list really, of things I will try to avoid in reviews of bars and restaurants:-

The word “toothsome” – hateful, hateful AA Gill of a word.

Likewise “moreish”- vile and possibly not really a word – a little like “LOL” for food writers.

National stereotypes – the Italians, Greeks and French are not all passionate, and, unless there really is a chill about my service, no Eastern European waitstaff will be described as “glacial”.

I will try to concentrate on the overall experience, but of course, the food drinks and service are gonna come first.

I will try to be fair, as I know what its like to get a bad review, and to work at full stretch.

I will remember at all times that, among food writers, Will Self is God, and always will be…

Hello world!

Hi there!

This is Doctordrink signing in, so a little intro would be good I suppose…

Why Doctordrink?

Easy, back in the old days, successful bartenders were often given monikers such as “Professor” and “Doctor”, on the basis that not only were they superb at getting you drunk, but that they were very often the Town Chemist/ Surgeon as well. alcohol was used to numb pain and as a cure-all instead of medicine, which was in its infancy.

Why this blog?

Why not? After around twenty years slinging booze at a grateful public, and slightly more drinking the stuff, I want to share my experience with you lot. Come and see…

But why you Doctordrink?

Oh, lets see… I have worked for around twenty years in Pubs, Hotel Bars and Restaurants, ranging from bog-standard to top flight internationally famous places, and may have picked up a tip or two…

What are you going to write about?

There will be recipes, tall tales, reviews and general musings on the wonderful business we call “Bar”.

Watch this space…