OWO is an acronym for the Outdated Struggle Workplace. A stone’s throw from the Homes of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, the resort’s baroque structure is taken into account probably the most compelling design feats from the Edwardian period. It was initially accomplished in 1906 when it was recognized, merely, as The Struggle Workplace. By way of the a long time, MI5 and MI6 dominated the corridors and spies abounded aplenty, apparently, as did heroes of the British Empire reminiscent of Winston Churchill, TE Lawrence (of Arabia) and James Bond creator, Ian Fleming. After years of painstaking renovation and arduous work, Raffles opened their UK flagship in September 2023.
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The outcomes are nothing in need of beautiful. In addition to boasting a mind-boggling 9 eating places and three bars, artwork by up to date masters reminiscent of Idris Khan and Yinka Shonibare is scattered liberally all through. With its multi-right angled marble staircase and hanging chandeliers, the within entrance makes you’re feeling like a gate-crasher on the most ornate and beautiful Vogue shoot. The courtyard, a football-sized area past reception, resembles a secret Parisian or Roman luxurious hideout. The resort has over two miles of corridors and the basement presents a unique environment altogether; labyrinthine, carpeted, low ceilinged, with pipes adrift and on present. Considerably Kafkaesque, it’s someplace to get misplaced in. Someplace, arguably, to lose individuals in. Someplace to maintain darkish secrets and techniques in. Someplace so secret that the Spy Bar requires a member of workers to steer visitors to it.
We descend in a elevate with two exits. The hall is much less ornate than the bottom flooring or the courtyard. It looks like a throwback to the 40s with its copper fireplace extinguishers and its purple and black patterned carpet which appears to stretch into infinity. Round an innocuous nook, surrounded by innocuous painted white bricks stands an innocuous darkish wood door. On it, a small plaque means greater than eye line, maybe positioned to mislead or misdirect, says all the pieces it must say. 007. The member of workers appears to fade (a secret passage possibly!?). We marvel if we should always knock or push the door open. With some trepidation, we do the latter. The small room may very well be Orwell’s 101 reasonably than one created by Fleming. Fairly than a secret consuming spot, we discover ourselves in a small burgundy area, greeted by a person in a tie sitting behind what appears like a Chilly Struggle desk. Typewriter? Examine. Ring dial telephone? Examine. Highlight? Examine. Hand sanitiser!? Err, effectively, sure; examine! He ticks our title off a really secret checklist and locations stickers over our telephone digital camera lenses. The sticker reads ‘For Your Eyes Solely’. Lastly, then, with the flop of a hand, we’re ushered into the internal sanctum.
It’s womb-like in The Spy Room; atmospherically lit, with extra burgundy and a buzzing clientele channelling its internal espionage fantasies. Maybe most impressively, above the bar’s glowing and glistening bottle choice, hovers the smooth, silver facet of an Aston Martin DB5, the hero automobile from the Connery basic, Goldfinger. Seating solely extends to 52 visitors and we’re escorted to a smaller, facet room. Octagon-shaped, partitions are brick, seating is velvety and vertical Dan Flavin-esque mild sticks illuminate the intimate area. Particular person cocktails prime £2000 however we’re right here for the Macallan James Bond sixtieth Anniversary launch which explores six a long time of the person, the thriller, the parable, with particularly curated Macallan Double Cask 12 years previous whiskey pairings and the occasional snack.
Decade I is a Poached Scallop Quenelle served with Sauce Nantua. There’s one other connection right here with Goldfinger; we will’t fairly hear all the pieces our waiter tells us so. The quenelle is a combination of creamed scallops with an egg binding. It’s clean, is a pleasing curiosity and is served in a small, black leather-based attaché case for additional espionage impact. A lobster bisque foam and fingernail of caviar add for a posh oceanic style. Later I re-watch Goldfinger however can discover no clue. My good friend is much more of a James Bond aficionado so he units upon re-reading Fleming’s novel. Hey Presto! Bond is driving via France, Orleans to be exact. He doesn’t like Orleans, would have most well-liked to sleep on the banks of the Loire, his stomach filled with ‘quenelles de brochet’ – a pike quenelle. So it’s not even one thing he eats, simply one thing he desires of consuming; an obscure reference, due to this fact. The whiskey cocktail for Decade II comes with Myrto absinthe and bitters. It’s a clean expertise with no sting and has a tantalising caramel aftertaste.
Decade III, IV and V are all cocktails. The primary of those is impressed by the negroni Bond drinks in Rome in For Your Eyes Solely. It’s blended with mushroom and pink pepper, Campari and candy vermouth. Though its substances don’t counsel as a lot, the mushroom is infused with chocolate, or extra precisely, it’s the chocolate which is infused with mushroom. The drink is thick and syrupy however not insipid. It leaves a barely bitter aftertaste and is tantamount to a gradual, edifying chocolate liquor; for those who’re a chocaholic, like myself, it is a spotlight. Decade IV comes with maracuya and Sauternes. ‘Maracuya’ is Portugese for ardour fruit and this cocktail references Ian Fleming’s love of Jamaica – he lived in a villa on the northern shoreline in Oracabessa Bay for some years. That is extra sprightly and has extra of a whiskey aftertaste than earlier mixes. Decade V is served with Nettle & honey, Chardonnay and CO2 and we’re immediately in Daniel Craig territory. Craig hasn’t but visited the Spy Bar but when you already know him and might coax him alongside, our waiter has generously supplied a free drink to all involved. The honey offers a sweetness and the CO2 some tender, smaller bubbles. A delightful nuttiness lingers.
Music all through units the spy’s temper effectively. No Bond themes are introduced however attractive, cool, romantic interludes are all represented in an brisk and expertly curated choice. We arrive to classic Stones however are additionally handled to the spy-infused, ska trumpet jazz of Lee Morgan’s The Rumproller, the extra romantic 60s gypsy gallivanting of Caravan Palace’s L’enfol and the sultry, groovy and lyrically suggestive Love Me Proper by Lavern Baker.
The expertise lasts shut to a few hours and for Decade VI, we’re supplied our second and remaining edible; Smokey Madong Chocolate with Roasted Cocoa Bean. I had no thought what Madong chocolate was so Googled it. It appears to originate from Papau New Guinea and is, apparently, ‘a stunning nearly meaty chocolate from volcanic land.” The chocolate itself is served with a gold leaf tear on what can solely be described as a slab of additional darkish chocolate the diameter of a cricket ball and a couple of centimetre thick. This, in flip, rests on a mattress of cocoa nibs and small silver globules which style like maltesers. Oh. And the Madong chocolate has a curious if not distinctive bacon aftertaste. Served with a neat 007 Macallan whiskey which has been matured in a cherry/bourbon cask for 18 years, this heady combo is the closest most will come to being injected with an intravenous choca-alcoholic drip.
‘Immersive’ is a little bit of a buzz-word nowadays and extra typically a redundant one. However, with the OWO’s distinctive historical past, its consideration to element and its distinctive collaboration with Macallan, the phrase couldn’t be higher utilized to this 18 and over Bond expertise. The person himself may attempt to persuade you You Solely Reside Twice however for these of us who solely dwell as soon as, that is undoubtedly value a shot earlier than it’s too late. Oh, and don’t neglect to eat beforehand at one of many resort’s 9 eating places.
