Playboy Club to revive Champagne tower tradition

Encapsulating the decadence and debauchery of the roaring ‘20s, the Playboy Club in London’s Park Lane is to bring back the tradition of Champagne towers at it’s newly launched Baroque bar. The brainchild of Gerry Calabrese, son of cocktail maestro Salvatore Calabrese and founder of Hoxton Gin, Baroque will be the first place in the capital to revive this most theatrical of traditions.

“Champagne towers are a vintage art form that have been sadly neglected in recent decades,” said Calabrese. Boasting one of the most extensive vintage Champagne lists in Europe, guests can pre-order the towers created from retro Champagne coupes said to have been modelled on Marie-Antoinette’s breasts.

Towers can be formed from a magnum of Salon 1964 for £25,000, a Jeraboam of Veuve Clicquot Brut 1945 at £12,700, and a 15l Nebuchadnezzar of Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s favourite fizz Armand de Brignac for £80,000. Decked out in gold, ruby and magenta, Baroque’s theatrical décor by CID Interiors includes Louis XIV chairs, chandeliers and antique mirrors.

The cocktail menu meanwhile, focuses on different takes on the Martini, served either in coupes or in Calabrese’s signature “infusion jars”. The bar will also serve platters of oysters, fruits de mer and caviar, along with childlike desserts such as doughnuts, lollipops and cakes. Calabrese launched East London nightspot The Hoxton Pony in 2008.

City boy splashes £200k on Ace of Spades Champagne

A young financier splashed out over £200,000 on drinks at a Liverpool nightclub, breaking the world record for the highest bill ever paid in a club. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, 23-year-old Alex Hope spent £125,000 on a 30-litre Midas bottle of Armand de Brignac, known as Ace of Spades – the world’s most expensive bottle of Champagne. The 45kg bottle had to be carried to the table by staff.

He spent a further £80,000 on other Champagnes, vodka, beer and mixers for guests including Manchester City footballers Joe Hart and Adam Johnson and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen at the PlayGround nightclub at Liverpool’s Hilton Hotel, owned by George Panayiotou (pictured). Hope also ordered a further 40 75cl bottles of Armand de Brignac – the Champagne endorsed by rapper Jay-Z, and handed them out to single women in the club.

One clubber observed: “He didn’t seem to be drinking a lot and looked totally sober.” The £204,000 bill, including an £18,500 tip, is thought to be the highest ever paid in a club, beating the £170,000 paid last June by professional US gambler Don Johnson at the One For One nightclub in London’s Park Lane. “It caused a bit of a stir. We have some of the best Champagnes in the world, but nothing like that. Everyone was talking about it and wondering who on earth this guy could be,” admitted one worker.

The day after, Hope boasted on his website: “Just opened the world’s largest Ace of Spades bottle at the PlayGround. Great night! Miami Next!” After just three years in finance, Hope is well known in the industry as a high flyer, and has been tipped by many to become one of the biggest traders in London.