Munesh Khanna: MARTINIS AND MUNESH: BOHEMIAN PARADISE

Munesh Khanna: MARTINIS AND MUNESH: BOHEMIAN PARADISE: MARTINIS AND MUNESH: Bohemian Paradise Prague is not very large city, almost intimate in nature, like discovering a new fr...

MARTINIS AND MUNESH: BOHEMIAN PARADISE

MARTINIS AND MUNESH:

Bohemian Paradise

Prague is not very large city, almost intimate in nature, like discovering a new friend

Bohemia, the very term conjures thoughts of an alternative lifestyle, a poet, an artist, a wide array of interest in fine arts, music, and literature. No wonder that Prague occupies a significant place on the world map of the best in culinary, bar and nightlife experience.

Prague, the city itself gives the feeling of a warm, cosy evening at a friend’s place. Not a very large city, almost intimate in nature, it’s like discovering a new friend and getting to know him or her in one evening while exploring the town on foot. Cobble stone labyrinth lanes lead to the Old Town Square or the Charles Bridge. Tucked in these lanes, Prague expresses its hospitality with a  varied choice of bars, The Black angel, Trsynka Books and Bar, James Dean Bar, Tretters and Bugsy just to name a few of the best. However the overall favorite by a far margin for Sood is Tretters Bar.

Sood was feeling mellow, it was his last day in Prague, and on that cold winter evening, he left his hotel the Mandarian Oriental alone, telling colleagues that he would meet them later at the Tretters Bar. He walked through the Kampa Park, stopping for a coffee at the Mlynska Café, an early 20^th century water mill, now transformed into an avant garde café, bursting with people from the theatre, film making, authors, and students-an-eclectic mix, also evident in the choice of food  as dozens of cup cakes, coffee and various Czech beers were consumed. Warmed up with caffeine, He braves the walk across the Charles Bridge. Although a moonless winter night, the river is illuminated by the lights on the bridge, the pretty building on both the banks and the Prague castle in the background. He reflects on his first magical trip to Prague, raising the question once again in his mind, whether there is merit in the rumour that the Prague castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Disney Land?

A DRINK OR TWO

Once across the Charles  Bridge,Sood takes a detour to the La Cassa Del Habano on V Celetna to buy cigars and a few matchboxes for his collection from what he believes is definetly one of the best cigar shops in Eastern Europe. A redeeming feature of Prague bars is that they still allow smoking.

In one of the lanes off the Old Town Square, a few metres onto V. Kolkovne, just arounde the corner from James Dean bar, is the bar Tretters, where Sood’s colleagues are waiting for him. A bit of Paris and New York of the 1930s still retained in 2012. He feels like Owen Wilson in woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris walking into the past and expecting to see a Kafka, Kundera, or Capek sitting with the locals, sharing a drink. Although in the heart of the touristic Old Town, the bar is filled, more by the Prague jet set than tourists. Classy women, bespoke suits, self – assured banker’s and businessmen’s suggestive banter and easy laughter fills the bar.

Martin Tretter, whose family has owned the bar for more than 90 years, takes great pride in everything at the bar starting with the dark wood furniture and red warm upholstery. Filled with nostalgia items, photographs of yesterdays star, archaic ringing cash register, period lamps, crystal decanters and ofcourse the long bar is stocked with almost every typed of liquor in the world. The owner of Tretters also run the Bar Academy of Prague, the foremost institute of bartending in Czech. Not surprisingly that the best of the bartenders in Prague are at Tretters. They are courteous, lively, conversationlists with not only the knowledge of mixing a great cocktail but also with a view on life general.

Many hours later, a number of cocktails and martin’s down, the humidor of the bar raided for many cigars, the house cocktail book purchased, photographs with George clicked for memory and posterity,

 a content, reflective, mellow Sood staggers out of Tretters to go, but as the other famous son of  Prague, Franz Kafta wrote, “Prague never let you go!”

The original article that appeared Business India

MARTINIS AND MUNESH: THE BLUE BAR

Keeping up with the Sood’s

Blue Bar, London

Boarding flight BA138 to Mumbai, on his way to the First Class lounge, Sood momentarily pauses at the HMV music store on hearing a Bebel Gilberto song. The song ends and before he can resume his onward journey, he is captivated by the next song, not Bebel but equally enchanting. Sood approaches the shop assistant and asks, “what’s playing?” The shop assistant flashes a grin and shoots back, “cool, innit?” and promptly proceeds to sell him a three CD  set, in a baby blue box. 

A nine hour flight to Mumbai later, having played the music on the laptop and fiddled with the CD box, Sood figures out that the compilation is from  the Blue Bar, London. A week later, he’s back to close the deal of the year, and later that chilly February evening sees him walking down Knightsbridge, through the charming and understated lobby of the Berkeley Hotel to see and be seen at the Blue Bar. 

What’s in a name? Well, the Blue Bar, he notices, is unmistakably an elegant shade of soft “lutyens” blue. Not a very large bar, its fairly crowded, but well laid out in three distinct areas. Modern, with classical design elements – the walls, the carpet, the  pale leather designer chairs are all a delicate, soft, blue. There are dashes of other colours: red lampshades, a white onyx bar counter, golden glow from 50 types of whiskey on the shelves behind it a black mock-croc leather floor.. The people all around are chic, older, well-heeled. Perhaps not a place to let your hair down, but lots of conversation and a distinct buzz.

The specialty of the bartender Santino telCicciari, is a  popular grappa cocktail. Santino mixes almond grappa with mirto, a Sardinian liqueur made with myrtle berries and some water. Sood sticks to the vodka martinis and the occasional cigar (this was when the city of London allowed smoking in public areas) and panders his Italian soul with the fiery Sundried Martini (Belvedere Vodka, sundried tomatoes, olive oil, tomato juice) – “a delicately prepared drink with enough kick to blow your head off’”. An attentive table service ensures a constant supply of strong martinis, and excellent tapas and olives. He toys with the menu, finally settling for crab with chives and settles down to some celebrity spotting (apparently celebs Madonna, Leonardo Di Capri , Mick Jagger frequent  the bar), and lets the music wash over him. 

The original article in Business India