Scarfes Bar menu explores ‘duality of mixology’
The new cocktail menu from Scarfes Bar at Rosewood London, Heroes & Villains, seeks to playfully reimagine the light and dark sides of 10 iconic public figures, each brought to life through two contrasting cocktails.
Launching tomorrow (1 April), the 20-strong menu pays homage to renowned English caricaturist Gerald Scarfe and his 2003 exhibition project and art book Heroes & Villains.
The drinks list mirrors the satirical spirit of Scarfe’s work and holds a mirror up to the modern drinks industry through a playful reflection on the longevity of trends.
The drinks list has been crafted by the team at Scarfes Bar under the guidance of director of bars Andy Loudon, and features contrasting cocktails that champion the heroes of modern mixology – such as clarification, distillation and carbonation – and their ‘villainous counterparts’ – the longstanding classics bartenders famously ‘love to hate’, such as tropical serves, Cosmopolitans, Pornstar Martinis, and Mojitos.
The 20 new signature serves required more than six months of development and the creation of numerous house-made ingredients.
Loudon told The Spirits Business: “Heroes & Villains turns its focus inward, away from politics or public life and towards the cocktail world itself. The menu explores the flavours, figures, and traditions the industry has celebrated, as well as those it has pushed into the shadows.
“On the one hand, the heroes side represents the icons: the drinks and profiles that shaped history. They embody elegance, restraint, and timeless appeal – the unquestioned favourites of modern bartending.
“On the other hand, their villainous alter egos emerge through flavours that are intentionally nostalgic, bigger, louder, and proudly out of fashion. They are the tastes the industry has often dismissed, yet when given purpose and context, they shine once again.
“Heroes & Villains acts as a satirical mirror for the cocktail community, inviting guests to question long‑held assumptions and to rediscover the pleasure found in both refinement and excess, polish and imperfection. In the end, a cocktail either dies a hero, or lives long enough to see itself become the villain.”
The bespoke cocktail menu is comprised of 10 pages, each showcasing a Gerald Scarfe caricature.
The main page presents the ‘hero’ serve, while a hidden pull-out reveals its ‘villainous’ counterpart.
Figures and thinkers
Paul McCartney is the first public figure put under the heroes and villains microscope, with the Hey Jude singer’s heroic side honoured in Strawberry Fields Forever, a Paloma-inspired cocktail built on Espolòn Blanco Tequila, fortified strawberries, verbena and CO₂, garnished with a verbena-dusted bell pepper.
Meanwhile, his darker side appears in Man on the Run, a rum-based Ramos Gin Fizz featuring Brugal 1888, peach wine, cherry blossom, fluffy coconut and peach, and jasmine soda.
Power couple David and Victoria Beckham have been heroically reimagined through Ninety 3rd, a refined Pornstar Martini that celebrates David’s ‘legendary’ 2001 World Cup goal, created with Hendrick’s gin, passion fruit, clarified vanilla and Champagne, while Diva interprets how the couple reinvented what it means to be a celebrity through the team’s take on a Lychee Cosmopolitan, crafted with Grey Goose vodka, lychee honey, orange flower, citrus, and a playful lollipop garnish.
Scientific thinkers Charles Darwin, Rosalind Franklin and Isaac Newton are also honoured on the menu.
Darwin’s contrasting serves, Natural Selection (hero) and Evilution (villain), are both whisky-based cocktails, with Glenturret Triple Wood Scotch leading the former, alongside carbonated raspberries, evaporated carrot and fino Sherry, and the latter championing Kentucky’s Eagle Rare 10 Bourbon alongside velvety pistachio orgeat and sour pineapple.
Inspired by her groundbreaking contribution to science, Franklin is honoured in the Manhattan-style serve, Double Helix, while her darker side is represented by the Patrón Silver Tequila-based Never Wrong.
The scientific trio is concluded with two cocktails paying tribute to the legacy of Newton. While the heroic cocktail Inertia is described as a smooth milk punch made with 12-year-old Appleton rum, the Laws of Motion channels Newton’s more occult beliefs through a reimagined Aviation, garnished with a delicate rice paper butterfly.
Literary twists and public stunts
Famous writers are also explored on the menu, with a ‘playful’ Martini variation called High Society paying tribute to Oscar Wilde. The cocktail is made with The Botanist gin, tonka vermouth, and manzanilla Sherry, and is served with a choice of house-made caviar garnish, seasonal citrus, or truffle.
Agatha Christie’s duo of serves, the 4.50 from Paddington and the Whodunnit, both feature twists in homage to the mystery writer’s dramatic back catalogue.
Closing the literary chapter, William Shakespeare is brought to life with Final Act, an aperitivo-style creation made with Campari, Discarded Banana, pear and black cardamom soda, adorned with a banana leather.
Its villainous counterpart, Foul Play, is a dramatic riff on a New York Sour with Michter’s Rye whiskey, damson plum, rhubarb and iris amaro.
Finally, the two characters representing the ‘titans’ of entrepreneurship are Richard Branson and Margaret Thatcher.
Businessman Branson’s ‘daring’ spirit is captured in Hot-Air Balloon – a complex blend of The Macallan 12, palo santo, Earl Grey Sherry, and peated almond, while his villainous alter ego emerges in Public Stunts, a bold Mojito twist that incorporates Diplomático Planas rum, bergamot linden, fortified spearmint and Sichuan soda.
The former British prime minister has inspired a clarified cocktail that combines Glenfiddich 12-year-old whisky, chocolate wine, fig leaf and clarified citrus, and known as the Iron Lady, while her villain-inspired serve, Divided Kingdom, is a ‘luxurious reimagining’ of the White Russian with Altamura vodka, Alphonso mango cream, acorn and café maderas.
The Heroes & Villains cocktail menu will be available at Scarfes Bar at Rosewood London from Wednesday 1 April.
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