Bar Review: Astor Bar’s New Menu Toasts New York’s Gilded Age at The St. Regis Singapore
PUBLISHED May 8th, 2021 05:00 am | UPDATED May 14th, 2021 04:13 pm
As the clock ticks six, a sleek bar cart glides to center stage at The St. Regis Singapore’s Astor Bar.
Head Bartender Yvonne Tay launches into a deft theatrics of mixing and measuring, capped off with martini throwing – a long pouring of the tipple at a height (not unlike, she quips, ‘pulling’ teh tarik). Violet-laced and velvety, these libations are handed round to every guest in the bar. We sip, and it tastes like a communion across time – for this is an age-old ritual known as the Violet Hour, happening as night falls on every St. Regis property around the world.
Old-world charm is certainly the key ingredient in Astor Bar’s DNA, and it shows in its refreshed drinks program. Dubbed New York New York, the 15-strong cocktail menu revolves around five Big Apple ‘hoods and various chapters from their colourful past. This is the New York of the early 1900s – a vibrant melting pot of immigrants and glitterati, of gang wars and gilded drawing rooms. A drawing room, perhaps, much like Astor Bar itself – a space tastefully clad in mahogany leather and muted red, hidden behind a towering set of silver double doors.
While cocktail programs are similar across St. Regis bars – devised by a kind of mixologist HQ – each offshoot gets to put its own local touches on the template. Tong Wars (S$24), for instance, is inspired by the gang wars that set Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown ablaze in the early 1900s, and packs heat with habanero pepper and ginger beer. But for Head Bartender Yvonne (better known as Von), it’s also a nostalgic nod to Teochew-style steamed fish, typically garnished with preserved plums. Her rendition goes savoury and tangy with salted plum vodka, finished with dehydrated sour plum strips; a dash of chili bitters completes the dish.
We next venture into Midtown, home to the iconic likes of Times Square and Broadway (not to mention the original St. Regis New York). Capitan’s Cure (S$26) offers a seaworthy salute to the Christopher Columbus monument at its heart, with a potent mix of vodka and vermouth laced with saline whiffs from fino sherry. Rounded off with homemade mint cordial, it’s fresh and enticing as a sea breeze.
On to the artistic heart of Upper Manhattan, pulsing with world-class museums and Harlem’s jazz clubs. Plunge into its glittering life with A Sip of Gilded Age (S$26) – an elegant toast to Astor Row, a fabled row of 28 townhouses on 130th Street in which the Astor clan, among them St. Regis’ founder John Jacob Astor IV, threw splendid parties. A deep, blackberry-sweet apéritif of cognac, manzanilla, ruby port, and just a splash of absinthe, one sip of this transports you into the plush warmth of a high society home. Although, given the familiar notes of blackcurrant, boozy Ribena might be just an apt a comparison.
We stop by the eclectic East Side to pick up some greens from Union Square Greenmarket, the famed farmers’ market brimming with fresh fruits and veggies. United Market (S$24) brings together London dry gin and pineapple with – of all things – spinach and snap pea in a blender, producing something closer to green smoothie than cocktail. It smells like a freshly pruned garden in springtime; the sludgy, leafy rawness of it, though, is decidedly not our cup of tea.
The West Side, known for cultural hotspots like Lincoln Center and SoHo, is another story. A moreish standout here is Calle Catorce (S$24), or 14th Street in Spanish – a stretch once dubbed ‘Little Spain’ and teeming with Spanish immigrants’ restaurants and shops. Astor Bar’s gin-based tipple pays it tribute with a medley of manzanilla, manchego, and mezcal, spiced up with black peppercorn. Don’t let its herbaceous freshness on the nose deceive you – it smells like a goat’s cheese salad, but hits the palate with a savoury, smoky punch.
After your jaunt round the Big Apple, the Chili Padi Mary (S$24) offers a warm homecoming. The Bloody Mary, legend has it, was invented by a barman at New York’s St. Regis, and their branches worldwide have been mixing up ever more daring renditions since. The St. Regis Singapore, of course, amps up the spice factor with chili padi and lingering heat from ginger, plus a zesty hint of lemongrass. If you aren’t ready to end the night just yet, draw it out with another Violet Hour Martini (S$26) – after all, somewhere in the world, the evening is just beginning.
Astor Bar is located at The St. Regis Singapore, 29 Tanglin Road, Singapore 247911, p. +65 6506 6888. Open Wed-Sun 3pm–10.30pm. Closed Mon & Tues.
Top Image: Capitan’s Cure
