The Sky's the Limit

by Ian Cameron












The May Fair Bar at the May Fair Hotel has launched a range of flight cocktails; miniature cocktails that come in groups of threes, with each drink accompanied by matching canape-sized food, enabling customers to sample a far wider range of food and drink, texture and flavours than they might if the cocktails were regular sized.

Theme met with Marios Elias, head bartender, to sample the Martini, champagne and whisky flights he has created in collaboration with the hotel’s chefs, having been inspired by what he was served at the Rainbow Room in New York. For the Martinis and the Amarillo champagne cocktail, all components are marinaded in decanters, then shaken with ice before serving. He sourced the miniature glassware from Urban Bar for the Martinis, LSA for the champagne cocktails, and Diageo for the whisky serves.

Our favourites were the Destination Amsterdam, which we thought was an excellent use of fennel and the Destination London, where the nutty taste of the balsamic vinegar complemented the strawberry flavouring, which in turn went surprisingly well with the duck. On the champagne front, we were nervous at how the seven ingredients in the Amarillo would mesh together, but the result was a finely balanced drink that retained the effervescence of the champagne, while the Schiaparelli gave an incredibly fresh alternative champagne serve.

Marius says he is continuing to experiment with the whisky flights, and is considering freezing the whisky in order to release its flavour more slowly and not overwhelm the food pairings.

Martini flights

From left to right:

Destination Milan
Grey Goose L’Orange
Campari
Basil
Grapefruit
Blood orange
A drop of olive oil.

Served with pink grapefruit macaroon, basil and citrus sorbet.

Destination London
Strawberry Stolichnaya
Double cream
Aged 21-year-old balsamic vinegar
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
sugar

Served with English strawberry compote with smoked duck.

Destination Amsterdam
Beefeater gin
Fennel
Liquorice
Sugar

Served with iced fennel salad with black pepper, fennel juice and poached quail egg.


Champagne flights (pictured below)

From left to right:

Schiaparelli
Muddled watermelon topped with champagne.
Served with accompany watermelon with haloumi fritters and fresh black olive powder.

Opium
Pomegranate topped with champagne.
Served with pomegranate jelly, golden raisin puree and champagne granite.

Amarillo
Amaretto
Grey Goose La Poire
Hennessy XO
Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
Apple Juice
Pear Puree
Top with champagne
Served with hot pear tart.


Long-haul Whisky Flight (pictured below)




From left to right:

Johnnie Walker Blue Label - served with sweet cherry and balsamic vinegar chocolate dip.

Johnnie Walker Gold Label - served with salted almonds with bitter chocolate cookie.

Johnnie Walker Black Label - served with smoked caramel with peanuts and chocolate fudge.