Immerse Your Senses in Post-Prohibition New York at All Ears Cocktail Bar

If you pass by a poster-sized New Yorker cover in Guanghua Lu Soho, don't mistake it for the magazine's Beijing headquarters (as if we’d let them in on our turf!). In fact, this marks the entryway of new speakeasy All Ears Bar, which fully embraces the illicit history of the prohibition-era class of establishment. Or rather, post-prohibitional-era history. As the artwork behind the bar proclaims, “we are drinking again,” while a framed newspaper clipping features a tipsy President Roosevelt celebrating the enactment of the 21st amendment with a boozy glass.

Bartenders snatched up from some of the city's top cocktail bars whip up creations inspired by Big Apple tipples. Unlike some of Beijing’s venues in the RMB 95-plus price range, the focus here is on creating balance rather than loading up the glass with as much alcohol as a palate can handle. Owner Zhongsheng, who is also a seasoned photographer, applies the same philosophy to both his art and his cocktails – subtlety is key, but not to the detriment of flavor.

The top-of-the-menu signature New York, New York, for instance, has an apple and cinnamon rye base topped with an egg white froth and a sprinkling of cinnamon and smacks of the specialty maple liqueur within, a prolonged taste that covers the whole tongue.

Another cinnamon signature is the Kuma No. 3, served in a ramekin with plum-powder dusted rim, made creamy thanks to Frangelico cut with a vodka and Japanese yuzu mix.

Love a martini with a twist? Lose the olives and grab the grapes for the Peel Me a Grape, one of the stronger of the ten signature menu options, and made with Bombay gin, Manzanilla sherry, and St. Germain.

Only Queens and the Bronx are neglected here, as patrons sip Manhattans, Long Island Iced Teas, and Brooklyn-brand beer in the leather seats below a wall of iconic photographs, or at the bar eyeing the knick-knacks and a working rotary telephone from the early 20th century (remember those?). With his trained eye, Zhongsheng has transformed a mall-shop space into a more than a classy bar. It may look good, but there's a reason he didn’t call it "All Eyes" Bar: Zhongsheng envisions it as a place where good conversation matches the unobtrusive but carefully selected jazz playlist.

Despite its somewhat unexpected location, everything behind the button-triggered sliding door appears to be going right, providing Guomao's cocktail lovers with another quality bar.

All Ears Bar
112C, 2/F, Guanghua Lu Soho, Chaoyang District
洗耳恭听：朝阳区光华路SOHO二层112C

Still thirsty? Try the spiked coffee and pumpkin pastries at new fall-themed Café Duet.

Images courtesy of the venue.