COCKTAILS

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The American Bar

In 1898 The Savoy Hotel opened The American Bar. This was the first place in London to serve American cocktails.

Location: Savoy Court, WC2R 0EZ

See Also: HOTELS The Savoy Hotel (red, blue)

Website: www.thesavoylondon.com/restaurant/american-bar

Harry Craddock

For many years Harry Craddock was the head barman of The American Bar. He had learned his craft in the United States but had left the country when Prohibition was imposed in 1920.

Joe Gilmore

Joe Gilmore (1922-2015) worked as the head barman. He was given to keeping special bottles for particular customers. Vodka used to be a rarity in London. The barman kept a bottle especially for the movie actor Errol Flynn. Winston Churchill was partial to Black & White whisky. Gilmore stocked a bottle especially for him.

Dick Bradsell

In the late 1970s Dick Bradsell (1959-2016) was a teenage punk on the Isle of Wight. One party that he hosted led to his parents home being trashed. He was sent to learn about hospitality at the Naval & Military Club in St James s Square, which was run by his uncle Oscar Gurney. There, he acquired a broad range of skills from cleaning to cooking. However, he realised he had found his m tier when he was given a copy of David A. Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948).

Bradsell went on to work at The Zanzibar, a cocktail bar in the then fast-changing Covent Garden. It was popular with models, New Romantic musicians and media figures. Initially, he was employed in the kitchen but was moved to the bar after he managed to poison some people with Dover sole that had gone off. He believed that the most important quality of bar staff is that they should be polite. His own manner tended to the formal; part schoolmaster, part Surrealist poet. There was speculation that he had been born wearing a three-piece suit. The establishments that he worked at subsequently included: The Colony Room (whose customers for the most party were not keen on mixology); The Groucho, The Soho Brasserie, Fred s Club, The Atlantic Bar & Grill, Dick's Bar, and the Pharmacy.

Bradsell created a number of cocktails. Some of them were taken up across the world. The Espresso Martini was created for a high-profile model who requested something that would wake me up and then f*** me up . The Thunderer he came to regard as his finest work. The Wibble would make you wobble but not fall down.

Buck's Fizz

Herbert Buckmaster created the Buck's Fizz. He married the actress Dame Gladys Cooper. The movie actor Robert Morley was their son-in-law.

David Backhouse 2024