CHEERS TO OMAKASE

Douglas Blyde’s secret cocktail-pairing journey

Behind a secret door within The Aubrey in Knightsbridge is an appointment-only, six-seater cocktail bar offering up a wet-led omakase experience that begins with instructions to ‘join us on the journey of a hungry mind’. Inside, Pietro Rizzo promises a journey through cocktail culture with four pairings, starting with a Tuscan violet infused champagne concoction served with an oyster embellished by shiso and caviar. We continued with a shochu (a spirit not widely known outside Asia) highball, spiced with home-made wasabi liqueur and served with slides of hamachi belly. Next, a celebration of the humble tomato, where the fresh fruit and distilled essence starred within a limpid shochu Martini alongside a Japanese take on bruschetta. My journey concluded with Japanese rum combined with whisky and freshly torched oak-stave smoke, spritzed with larch essence and served with A5 Wagyu maki. A meditative opportunity to escape the world? Most definitely. Wed-Fri, from £198 per person (sevenrooms.com/events/theaubreymolon)