Mr Fogg’s | London’s hidden cocktail location
Mr Fogg’s arrived in Mayfair, London in the summer of 2013. A recreation of the actual home of Jules Verne’s most famous adventurer, Phileas Fogg. Modelled on the very Mayfair house, the bar is refined but at the same time truly off-the-wall, breathing liveliness and fun into the West End. Guests are able to encounter all the wonders of the world without setting foot outside of London. Mr Fogg’s home is well-hidden down a small side street off Berkeley Square thus maintaining an element of secrecy.
A small plaque marks the door with Victorian lanterns hanging outside. On arrival, guests enter an immaculate hallway where Mr. Fogg’s trusty valet passepartout is on hand to take guests’ coats, umbrellas and calling cards. To further add to the authenticity of the bar, a selection of staff are also dressed in specially designed, bespoke, old-fashioned military style uniforms.
Mr Fogg’s interior
Mr Fogg’s is modelled on the eccentric explorer’s period drawing room laden with artefacts and trinkets collected from his travels. The walls are adorned with everything from stuffed Indian tigers and crocodiles to ornaments collected through his worldwide voyage. Annotated maps and pictures from his travels also feature prominently throughout the bar, as do clocks, given the importance Mr Fogg places on punctuality. A piano for sing-alongs and an open fireplace to welcome any weary traveller to its hearth also provide focal points. As Fogg was a hero of the Victorian age, guests are able to toast an imposing portrait of its matriarch, Queen Victoria, hanging alongside paintings of him and his ancestors.
The cocktails
Mr Fogg’s provides an elegant global drinking adventure on each occasion. Rare and unusual products and ingredients are sourced continually, from each continent, seeking to open up guests’ imaginations and palates to new and daring combinations. The menu is a unique interpretation of ‘Victorian Cocktailian Culture’, with many classics revived with a modern twist, such as: Absinthe Aperitifs, Gin Fizzes, Grog’s, Sazeracs, Stirrup Cups and Pouce Cafés. There are also sharing drinks served in the form of globes, red Indian’s heads, steam trains and antique punch bowls.
Botanical garden
A new addition to Mr Fogg’s is the quintessentially British Hendrick’s Botanical Garden, overflowing with flowers and botanicals. The bijou space features lush foliage, herbs and classical Italian terracotta. Guests can enjoy an elegant al fresco drinking adventure on each occasion with an enticing array of Hendrick’s cocktails. The Botanical Garden is the perfect place to take the air and while away the long summer evenings beneath the stars.
Founder and lifelong Fogg fan, Charlie Gilkes sums it up: “We’ve created Mr Fogg’s with a sense of history, adventure, fun and imagination. We hope to take you on a journey very soon, just don’t be late, we’re on a tight schedule!”
Website: Mr Fogg's
