While staying at the Rosewood on our most recent trip to London, we found ourselves at Scarfes Bar daily, be it for gut-busting brunches or elevated cocktails come nightfall. In a perfect world, a daily visit to Scarfes Bar would extend beyond the time trap that is vacation, as this simply has to be one of the best hotel bars on the planet.
The first thing one notices here is the striking, stately, downright gorgeous mahogany-meets-marble decor, complete with secret library vibes and a roaring fireplace, juxtaposed by the namesake artist's gallery of distinctive caricatures and political satire. Gerald Scarfes, his style most recognizable from his work with Pink Floyd's The Wall, has been skewering pop culture figures and heads of state relentlessly ever since, with not-so-flattering portrayals of the likes of Trump and Theresa May, next to exaggerated homages to the Beatles, Stones, and so on. It's all a bit tongue-in-cheek, as Scarfes Bar mocks rock gods and the ruling class, while serving pricey tipples to its well-to-do patrons.
But it's those tipples that are worth every pence. The cheeky cocktail book assigns noteworthy British personas from a given year to specialty drinks, such as 2004's Simon Cowell-inspired High Waisted, 2011's Amy Winehouse-inspired Back 2 Black, or 2018's Prince Harry-inspired Off the Market. Each page, of course, features iconic caricatures from Scarfes himself. I was personally drawn to 2003's Booyakasha!, having remembered those early days discovering Ali G overseas via stateside DVDs. A blend of tequila, vermouth, mango, habanero, and grapefruit, the drink was ironically ostentatious enough to represent its paired persona, and yet refreshing and zippy enough to be a delightful, upscale cocktail all its own. In fact, all of the drinks we tasted here seemed to have mastered that balance between sharp and fruity.
As for brunch, we're dealing with a decadent buffet affair, thankfully packed with more French toast, fresh juices, breakfast sausages, and avocado toasts than, well, blood pudding and the traditional British morning cuisine. Truly, a savory and sweet feast for a king (with an American palate... and appetite.)
And with Scarfes Bar sitting some 3500 miles / 5500 kilometers away from me, my initial wish of having a place like this to unwind any given day or night remains a fantasy. However, it certainly gives me something to look forward to on my next trip across the pond, and the next trip after that, as years pass, and more superb signature drinks get added to the cocktail book, one mocking caricature at a time.