This Cocktail Menu Pop-up Book Isn’t For Kids
When your cocktails feature gold dust and may cost over $40 each, a typical menu just isn’t going to cut it.. The Beaufort Bar at the Savoy in London has turned its menu into art with a pop-up book. Each signature drink has its own pop-up page, giving the viewer not only a glimpse of the drink but also a description of its ingredients and, often, an artsy portrayal of the drink’s namesake or origin.
The history
In 1889, the hotel opened with the unheard-of luxuries of electricity, hot and cold running water, and electric lifts. At that time, the bar’s menus were embellished with intricate colored illustrations. The current head bartender, Chris Moore, was looking to tap into that history and create something unique for the new menu. “A menu that would actually come to life,” he explained in the trailer for the much-anticipated menu.
This isn’t the first pop-up book for the Savoy. A brochure from 1938 had a pop-up of the hotel. Moore worked with illustrator Joe Wilson and paper engineer Helen Friel to create the 15-page menu. Wilson made detailed pencil sketches that were then drawn over with ink and scanned into a computer. Friel took those pages and worked with a pop-up template machine to create the layering of the pages which makes them 3-D.
The pop-up menu
The menu flows on a “journey from light to dark,” said Moore in the trailer. It starts with crisp, light drinks like the Embankment Gardens at the beginning of the evening and ends in the early morning hours with options like the Ratification or Pan-American Highway.
The Embankment Gardens menu page features a woody, green forest of fig trees, much like the actual gardens located right next to the hotel. The drink is made of a syrup from the fig leaves on the trees adjacent to the hotel as well as Oxley Gin, Spiced Martini Bianco, fresh lime juice, cinnamon, vanilla and star anise, and is garnished with a rose leaf.
Marlene Dietrich inspired the “Blue Angel,” a cocktail made of gin, Dom Perignon, sorbet, Cointreau and gold dust. The menu page features an image of the movie star, gazing at you while you peruse the ingredients.
Moore, Friel and Wilson spent a year finalizing each drink and page. Only 1,000 copies of the menu were made. For $80 you can take one home to show your online culinary school friends.
