Bar unveils ‘world’s first’ drinkable tech menu

Jason Atherton’s Michelin-starred restaurant and bar City Social is readying to launch Mirage, thought to be the world’s first augmented reality cocktail menu.

City Social is readying to launch what is thought to be the world’s first augmented reality cocktail menu

Upon selecting one of 12 new serves, guests will be presented with a cocktail that initially appears like any other. Once the purpose-built app is pointed at the drink, the augmented reality technology transforms the cocktail and brings its surroundings to life.

Created by Mustard Designs, Mirage took 18 months to develop, and champions a cocktail menu designed by group bar executive of The Social Company, Jamie Jones, and City Social bar manager, Tim Laferla.

The theme of the menu is ‘art through the ages’, with each serve influenced by a different artist or era, from Van Gogh to Banksy.

Taking inspiration from the Victorian era, Dogstone Brew combines Hendrick’s Gin, port, bergamot, black tea split milk and orchid root to create a clarified milk punch cocktail. When viewed with Mirage, the drink is accompanied by floating Victoriana-style balloons and Monty Python-esque imagery.

Sashay, meanwhile, represents the iconic Art Nouveau posters of the late 1800s and early 1900s, blending Perrier Jouët Belle Époque Champagne, Japanese plum wine, jasmine and liquorice, and features a woman reclining on a chaise longue.

Another drink, Wheatfields with Fizz, contains Ketel One Vodka, elderflower, bee pollen, lager and egg white, and references Van Gogh’s paintings Starry Night, Wheatfields with Crows and View of Aries.