on saturday night i headed out to the house of peroni in holborn, to see what all the fuss was about. open since october third ("it's october third") and running through until the end of the month, a grand lincoln's inn fields house has been transformed into a roman spectacle where guests are invited to check out four floors of roman-inspired collections from italian designers, artists, architects and chefs. plus, there are three uniquely styled bars spread across three floors where house mixologist federico riezzo showcases his latest drinks creations; peroni cocktails.
we started on the vii hills (seven hills, not 'vee hills', ahem); crisp and zesty and with an unusual pairing of spearmint and lemon, it was incredibly refreshing (and super cold), and the distinctive taste of the peroni was well balanced among the other sweet and sour flvours. as first cab off the rank, this one scored 3/5; tasty, but too citrusy for my tastes. we wandered the 'art installations' while we drank these, and headed up to the next bar. these cocktails were going down too easy.
we started on the vii hills (seven hills, not 'vee hills', ahem); crisp and zesty and with an unusual pairing of spearmint and lemon, it was incredibly refreshing (and super cold), and the distinctive taste of the peroni was well balanced among the other sweet and sour flvours. as first cab off the rank, this one scored 3/5; tasty, but too citrusy for my tastes. we wandered the 'art installations' while we drank these, and headed up to the next bar. these cocktails were going down too easy.
the art installations were all a bit shit. i mean, there just was not a lot going on. there was one installation that was just handblown glass etched with the eurostar symbol (why?), and one that was like, thirty peroni branded bottle openers in a cabinet. this is what rome is like? weird. i'd always imagined rome to be full of culture and history and incredible architecture. guess i can save myself a trip now, huh....
at the second floor bar we ordered the nerone; the notorious roman emperor nero was famously linked with the great fire of rome in 64ad as either its instigator or its extinguisher, and as such, he is the inspiration for this infusion. "a fresh base of peroni nastro azzurro with an exhilarating blend of chilli and passion fruit, the nerone’s sweet-sour-spicy flavour has a strong onset, but leaves you with a sweet caress and a smokey tang". yeah. especially if you eat the damn chilli that's intended for garnish not dinner. so, don't do that. that's a silly idea. this one was yum and weird! i give it 4/5 for creativity and subliminally making my date eat a red hot chilli.
while at this bar, we also ordered the honey peroni - the strongest of them all so far, and also the sweetest to taste. the ancient romans valued the properties of honey so highly that they offered it up to the gods - today, in the form of a yummy cocktail. the honey was blended with vanilla rum and lime, and the integral peroni base, to create a really tasty and tarty number. i really liked this one, even if the vanilla pods left weird residue all around my mouth. this one was a strongun, so i give it a well deserved 5. top notch, but bloody strong. on to the last bar we goes...
and onto the one i had been anticipating since seeing it on the menu online; la dolce vista. sparkly sparkly, in part from the beery beery, in part from the twinkly prosecco lashings on top. prosecco and beer! wut! this is a travesty! how wrong was i... unconventional, yes, perfectly roman, apparently. it was a blend of orange and grapefuit juices, and was easily the most drinkable. i am a prosecco girl after all. this one was so easy to drink, i had two...*gulp* at an average of £8 each, i am too terrified to see how much i spent on these hybrid cocktails, but... yum.so, we very much enjoyed the bars in the house. the music was... noisy, and the art was... not existent. while we were there there were other activities on the go too - namely, a chocolate making class and also a film festival. there are random events on right through until the end of the month that you need to book into in advance, and each of them has varying admission prices, but the bar is totally free to hang out at. free, until you order. and then kinda pricey.
so, if you're stuck for an idea of how to spend your next night out in london, and you want to try something a little bit different (and tasty), then i would definitely say head over and check it out. the house itself is really lush, and the bars were totally manageable for a saturday night. not a lot of queueing required, and the staff were all very friendly and happy to chat about the drinks/art and make sure everyone was well looked after.
probably one of the best nights out i've had since... you know what.
have you been; what are your thoughts?
