Lounge Act

 Cocktail Correspondent: Weldon Gardner Hunter

Thursday, August 15: It's summer break! No more laptops, no more books, no more student's dirty looks (when they get their essays back). It's been a week of sleeping in and then deciding what to do at 315pm. The life of Riley, in other words.

I haven't written about The Sylvia Hotel Lounge (1154 Gilford Street, Vancouver) and it's time to correct this. This is the pre-eminent cocktail bar in the city, appearing in 1954 in one of the most appealing corners of the city - West of Denman, at the entrance to Stanley Park. Brick and English Ivy, if that's your thing:

The Sylvia is where I once drank 4 or 5 Brandy Alexanders on a long-ago New Year's Day (not eve). Even though the official drink of the Algonquin Round Table is not on the menu, it's the kind of venerable room where the bartender knows what a Brandy Alexander is if you request one. Try that just about anywhere else (I have and it never ends well).

This time, I've decided to try The Vancouver Cocktail: the signature drink of the Sylvia. 

Long Table Gin, Vermouth, Benedictine, Bitters

Strong & stiff at the first sip, the vermouth leads and the benedictine follows with a bit of honey/ginger/citrus aftercare. Medicinal, in the way that Dr. Pepper is. It’s a serious 1950s cocktail that you should take your time with. Beautiful golden brown colour and notes of brown sugar - but not sweet.

It’s a complex cocktail, I’ve sipped my way into enjoying it and I’ve enjoyed sipping it. Honestly, there's something magical about this drink. 

There's a duo  playing “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder. The rest of their repertoire has been predictable but pleasant. "Girl from Ipanema" was nice, but what about "Corcovado"? I have a momentary fantasy that they might play "The Lure of the Rockpools" by the Marine Girls. Overdue to be added to lounge act setlists. 

The Sylvia is a great cocktail room. It’s actually quite spacious, but still intimate because it's comprised of smaller sections. I’m at the bar, at the far east end because there is a priceless view out the windows of English Bay. Otherwise, your back is to the beauty.

The Sylvia is a perfect spot for solitaires: people drinking wine, reading, scribbling things in notebooks.  I wasn’t alone, though – I was joined by a little fruit fly who stayed out of harm’s way. And later, by a guy who set up right next to me with his own laptop despite all the empty seats spreading to the horizon. Is this hotdesking?

As the sun sets and the tourists and sophisticated locals set off, I decide to order a Brandy Alexander for old time's sake. To be honest, I always order one when I'm at the Sylvia. I figure it's a bold choice for the middle of August, but I've never been one to worry about seasonal sumptuary laws:

I get the feeling that ordering a Brandy Alexander at the Sylvia in 1954 might have caused some looks askance. Would I have been perceived as a softie, one of the smart set, an egghead? Perhaps I would have caused a menagerie of Mad Men to join me in sipping this snowstorm in a glass. Perhaps we would have started singing the Devil's Music, "Sh-Boom" by the Crew Cuts. 

Ghostly cocktail glasses clink. It's summer at the Sylvia.