Cocktails are mainstream, that’s what I thought when a friend of mine brought me here to show me her favorite place. This small bar in the basement somewhere near Tsevnoy boulevard amazed me not with the atmosphere (it’s great) but with the way the bartenders do their job. I’d never seen before how professional-looking and impressive mixing drinks can be.

The founders of the spot are barmen and they worked in Strelka (check out the article ‘Strelka – Institute bar where the trends live’). But one day they decided to become bosses themselves and opened a place for classic mixed drinks and their own variations.

I talked to them once and they know hundreds of drinks, they know all possible variations of mixing them and can even make up something really special just after a few words of description. The drink I’d call their specialty is Phil Tonic which is actually gin tonic named after a good friend of the bartenders but made with a special type of gin with a couple of “secret ingredients”. I had no chance not to like it.

Only people who know the place visit it. It’s not located on the main party street so you are quite unlikely just to pass by it casually. People who belong to the so-called “creative class” are always inside. Friendly, trendy, nice.