This week in pictures includes Douglas Blyde at The Ritz and the Escoffier Room, Louis Thomas and James Evison tasting sake at Umu in Mayfair, and Wines of Spain heads to the The Pelligon. Umu Senior staff writer Louis Thomas and digital editor James Evison visited Umu where they tasted a collection of sakes that were paired with the Michelin-starred restaurant’s kaiseki meal. Across a number of courses, sweet, dry and sparkling sakes complemented the range of outstanding fish dishes. The Ritz
Douglas Blyde took refuge from the rain in The Ritz hotel’s Rivoli Bar. Since summer 2023, this art deco masterpiece has been captained by charismatic head mixologist, Michele Saladino, a “tourist entertainer” from Sicily turned barback at The Savoy’s Beaufort Bar where he fast ascended to become a mixologist, then the small, but mighty, Amaro, Kensington High Street as senior bartender. Under the golden glow of the Orient Express like milieu at The Ritz, Blyde tried February’s Cocktail of the Month. Called “ALPENGLOW”, the dusty pink drink, served in a broad coupe, is intended to evoke “the rosy light of the setting or rising sun seen on high mountains.”
It seamlessly combines bright of form Cotswolds Distillery Reserve Single Malt whisky with freshly juiced rhubarb, rhubarb to the fore Amaro Santoni, which also comprises iris, and a homemade rhubarb cordial and a vanilla syrup, both crafted at Saladino’s lab beneath the ever expanding five-star property, which is where he spends half his hours. Carefully
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Fine Wine
