The Savoy’s Beaufort Bar in London has unveiled a tunnel cocktail menu that guides guests through some of the hotel’s most memorable events, from rooftop tap dancing to secret wartime speakeasies.

The Ceremony celebrates BAFTA’s long standing partnership with The Savoy

Described as a “celebration of some of The Savoy’s most captivating stories”, the illustrated menu takes guests on a journey of the hotel’s history, touching upon both well-documented and lesser known tales.

Created by head bartender Kyle Wilkinson, bar manager Anna Sebastian and the Beaufort Bar team, the new menu comprises 20 cocktails, each depicting a particular story through illustrations, flavours and smells: leather, spices, paper, walnut and chocolate perfume, for example.
“The Savoy is a majestic place and when writing the menu, we came across so many stories that were too good not to share,” said Wilkinson. “The team has created what I like to think of as a journey through some of the most exciting and historic events in the hotel’s history from past to the present and next chapter of the Beaufort Bar.”

The menu opens with Under The Stars, inspired by Fred Astaire, who famously danced upon the roof of The Savoy in the 1920s.

Whisky-based cocktail ‘Read All About It!’ is dedicated to Tich’s bar, which was hidden deep within the hotel in WWII. The speakeasy was a regular for wartime journalists, who sipped the spirit until the early hours.

‘Garden of Memories’ remembers when the hotel’s courtyard flooded – so a “lavish” sit-down dinner for 24 guests was served on a large gondola, while ‘By Invitation Only’ is inspired by synthpop band Duran Duran, who shot the music video for Girl Panic at the venue in 2011.

“As The Savoy has such a distinguished history for shaking up an evening with the finest cocktails in town, I am very touched to hear that ‘By Invitation Only’ will be joining the ranks alongside the luscious ‘White Lady’ and the deadly ‘Corpse Reviver’,” said Nick Rhodes, founding member of Duran Duran.

Illustrated by visual studio Shottopop, the limited edition tunnel book menu took 10 months to create, and reads the opposite way to regular tunnel books – with cutouts growing in size as guests turn the pages of the menu.

Inspired by the eras most associated with the Savoy, the illustrations combine Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles with a “modern” finish.

As just 1,500 were made, the menu can be bought as a gift for £50.

Click through the following pages to discover a selection of cocktails on Beaufort Bar’s new menu, and their accompanying synopsis. 

Height of Fashion

Price: £18
London’s first ever hotel lift, known affectionately as an “ascending room”, took guests effortlessly from ground to top floor of the hotel – the well-heeled no longer had to climb the stairs.
Ingredients: Remy Martin VSOP, Italian blend, Cocchi Torino, leather

Gypsy Moth

Price: £16
Amy Johnson was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia; upon her return a celebratory lunch was held at The Savoy.
Ingredients: Hendricks, coconut, mastic, cherry, lemon, ginger, blue sky

By Invitation Only

Price: £20
In 2011 Duran Duran filmed one of their greatest music videos at The Savoy, with a star-studded cast featuring some of the world’s greatest supermodels.
Ingredients: Jack Daniels Single Barrel Rye, Campari, cranberry, wormwood cherry, citrus, chocolate perfume

Seal of Approval

Price: £16
The Royal Bell was accidentally rung one morning by a young boy reporting for his first day at The Savoy as a pageboy.
Ingredients: Bombay Sapphire, cinnamon Dubonnet, peach

The Ceremony

Price: £18
Celebrating BAFTA, another British institution, and a long standing partnership with The Savoy, this drink honours the world of film and television.
Ingredients: Beefeater 24, Kamm & Sons, hops, grapefruit, gold

The Master of Suspense

Price: £18
Simpson’s-in-the-Strand was Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite restaurant, and featured in his 1936 film, Sabotage.
Ingredients: Powers John Lane 12 year old, Martini Rubino, whey milk, lemon, cayenne, sugar

The Missing Shaker

Price: £18
Legendary head bartender Harry Craddock buried a cocktail shaker in a wall of The Savoy in 1927… never to be found again.
Ingredients: Star of Bombay, Cointreau, chinotto, red wine shrub

10.10.10

Price: £19
Celebrating the date on which The Savoy re-opened its doors after almost three years closure for top-to-toe restoration; and on the same day, the Beaufort Bar welcomed guests for the very first time.
Ingredients: Grey Goose, Cointreau, pineapple, chocolate, Louis Roederer Champagne

The Savoy Delivers

Price: £16
On one occasion, when a Maharajah left behind an important package, The Savoy sent a young page boy all the way to India to return it by hand.
Ingredients: Bacardi Carta Ocho, Martini Bianco, lime, honey, Indian spices