The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-29)

something stronger. At the Idle Rocks hotel in St Mawes the

most popular cocktail is a lychee and chilli martini made with

local Cornish gin. “It’s all about spirits and classic martinis,”

says the general manager, Carl Chapman. Then there’s

Insomnia, an Edinburgh bar that opened last year and special-

ises in espresso martinis, while Joro in Sheffield, the restau-

rant from the Great British Menu star Luke French, offers

punchy cocktails and the chance to take a bottle of the restau-

rant’s small-batch gin home with you.

At Rita’s, the food has cemented the restaurant’s status as a

culinary institution. More recently, though, people have been

coming for the vodka martinis. Served in a tiny glass with a

blue cheese-stuffed olive, jalapeño and anchovy, they were

inspired by the lethal one sip martinis at Tayer + Elementary,

in east London, voted No 2 in the most recent World’s 50

Best Bars awards. I’ve been to Rita’s, I tried them (three to be

specific), and I can understand why. “Once you get a group on

them, it’s martinis, martinis, martinis,” Flynn says.

Knowing how you want your spirits is also a new social flex,

a new language to learn and show off with. Ordering a drink is

as much of an activity as drinking it. It’s also borderline irri-

tating. I went on a date recently with someone who spent ten

minutes explaining why it was imperative that the Ketel One

in his martini be frozen. “It’s funny because a drink like a

martini is so desirable, and yet it’s essentially just pure

alcohol,” Flynn says.

So if hard liquor is in, what’s out? Hard seltzers can abso-

lutely go down the drain. Fruity cocktails can also stay behind

the bar. What do people want from their drinks? “You want

something that forces you to be present, that forces you to

slow down but also lets you be mischievous,” Ghazal says.

“Sometimes there are these symbols in life that represent a

moment. The martini is very much one of those.” Just make

sure you don’t have more than two. ■

The glistening charter jet that

whisked Christian, Roksana and

their nine-month-old baby from

Los Angeles to Oakland,

California, this month was “really

more private-ish”, the couple

insist. Ten of the thirty seats were

taken. Two tiny dogs belonging to

“Los Angeles influencer types”

yapped for the full 96-minute

flight. One man spent the journey

loudly taking business calls, never

removing his sunglasses. This is

what it’s like to share the high life.

But, says Christian, who works

in tech marketing, at £656 each

for a return ticket, “private-ish” is

money well spent. “It was a toss-up

between spending a bit more and

checking in with 15 minutes’

notice or grappling with crowds

and two hours of security — plus

avoiding stressing the baby.”

Welcome to the world of

semi-private travel: private-ish, but

shared with friends (or strangers)

for a hefty discount. Paying less to

live out your luxury dreams, in

other words.

With higher oil prices pushing

up the cost of business and first

class tickets on commercial flights,

after airlines have already had to

jack up prices as much as threefold

as they strip out seats to maintain

social distancing, the gap between

commercial first class and

semi-private has closed.

In America, the top names

are Surf Air, JSX, Tailwind,

Tradewind, and Blade, which runs

seaplanes and helicopters and is

forecasting ticket sales worth

£709 million by 2026 as people

ditch gridlocked roads for nifty

electric hybrid aircraft.

In the UK, companies such

as XO ferry the likes of

Cara Delevingne

around Europe. It is aiming to

bring private-ish aviation “to the

masses over the next 20 years” as

operating costs fall (London to

Paris currently costs £1,890).

It is once again cool to pool.

“Post Covid, people are looking to

actualise their bucket lists,” says

Roman Chiporukha of the luxury

concierge service Roman & Erica.

“Our clients are spending more

to experience longer and more

meaningful trips with their close

friends and family. We’ve seen an

uptick in luxury villa rentals and

longer yacht charters. Instead of

the typical one-week vacation,

people are allocating two to three

weeks for their travels.”

Travelling private-ish is not

simply about escaping the crowds

in the clouds. Dayyan Armstrong,

the founder of Sailing Collective,

an “Airbnb for yachts” that runs

charters everywhere from the

Mediterranean to Polynesia, says

semi-private bookings have

doubled in 12 months (driven,

I suspect, as much by fans of the

reality TV show Below Deck as by

a thirst for “affordable” adventure).

Boats come with a captain and a

chef, with prices starting at £1,620

for a single cabin for a week

including meals (“Give them the

ingredients, they’ll cook

whatever”). Up to ten strangers

squeeze aboard. “We get a ton of

solo travellers,” Armstrong says.

“We build a real community.”

As ever, it is the young who are

really letting rip. “Everyone’s

dream is to have a private island,”

says Sarah, 30, a City lawyer, “so we

rented one — Pulau Pangkil, in

Indonesia — between 45 of

us. It was £300 each.

Inevitably there

was a rift in the

group and two

tables at lunch and dinner, but

apart from that you could avoid

each other. We had a huge party,

and best of all, there was no one

around to complain.” ■

The new travel trend this summer? Pooling

your resources with friends to experience

a luxury life for less, says Samuel Fishwick

Are you going

PRIVATE-ISH?

SAKE SODA

(Joro, Sheffield)

A Midori and yuzu sake long

cocktail with a deliciously

sticky foam, served at

hipster chef Luke French’s

restaurant.

BISCOFF OLD FASHIONED

(Try it at Present

Company, Liverpool)

A classic made with buttered

whisky, Biscoff (yes, the

biscuits) and bitters, served

with chocolate.

FOUR DRINKS TO ORDER NOW

LEAF

(Soma, London W1)

An Indian twist on a gin

gimlet made using

curry leaf and pink

peppercorn from this

award-winning bar.

MANGO MARGARITA SLUSHIE

(The Rooftop at the

Standard, London WC1)

People come here

for the views, the cool

crowd, the live DJ sets and

Art Partner Licensing, Getty Images these slushies.

SUMMER

PART Y

SPECIAL

SOMA

PRESENT

COMPANY

The Sunday Times Style • 23