London wins 24Hr Bar Build

24Hr Bar BuildOn the 10th October, 4 teams from worldwide cities battled it out to win the title ‘World’s Best’ in the 24HrBarBuild competition during London Cocktail Week.

The #LondonCalling team included our talented bar manager Luca Missaglia, emerged victorious against New York, Paris and Singapore.

With Patron Tequila central to their challenge Luca and his team mates turned people’s conceptions of tequila on their head by creating three unique cocktails (a green sour, a tiki walking dead and a negroni twist) with a back drop of a Mexican themed bar resplendent with cacti juxtaposed with stunning London skyline views. Read more +

aqua nueva joins London Cocktail Week line-up

Butter & Mint Drop for London Cocktail Week

London Cocktail Week, the annual celebration of the capital’s exciting, innovative and thriving cocktail scene, is back this year from 5th-11th October, and once again we’re pleased to be taking part.

To showcase the stunning new destination bar in aqua nueva, bars manager Luca Missaglia has created a cocktail which will be available there exclusively to wearers of London Cocktail Week wristbands throughout the week.
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Japanese rhubarb crème, sesame cake, Japanese rose vanilla ice-cream, rhubarb oilsoya baby beetroot salad, miso egg wafers, roast pine nutswagyu beef, red wine teriyaki, onion miso, rice nest, herbs

aqua kyoto introduces ‘Food As Art’ menu

The exquisite, precise and colourful presentation of aqua kyoto head chef Paul Greening‘s Japanese cuisine often attracts comparisons with art, but for this new menu Paul has taken the association further, drawing inspiration from three contemporary Japanese artists.

In his ‘Food as Art’ menu Paul references the signature polka dots of Yayoi Kusama, bold, colourful abstracts of Tsuruko Yamazaki and the floral motifs of Ryoko Aoki. Available from 1st September – 30th November, the menu also coincides with FRIEZE Art Fair in October, where all three artists will be exhibited.

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Bar Supervisor Simone Rossi named ‘The Mixing Star UK 2015′

Simone Rossi, Disarono's The Mixing Star UK 2015

For this guest post, Lorenzo Stabile, bar team member in aqua spirit, interviews his colleague Simone Rossi about his recent success in a prestigious international competition.

If you ever wondered how to be inspired to combine flavours for a new cocktail, here is the answer: behind a great cocktail there is always a story that starts its creation. That was the the first step of a journey that allowed Simone Rossi, bar supervisor at aqua spirit, to see his cocktail among the winners of The Mixing Star 2015, a global competition promoted by Italian liqueur company Disaronno.

Moving to London from a little city in Italy, Simone entered the hospitality industry with only a basic knowledge of cocktails but a great passion to develop his skills. A few weeks ago, his passion and determination were rewarded when he was named The Mixing Star UK 2015, one of thirteen worldwide national champions.
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Serving up the Spirit of Summer


When the world’s best bartender Charles Joly and our very own super-talented bar manager Luca Missaglia collaborate on creating new cocktails, you’d expect the results to be pretty special – and this week we were excited to unveil them to press and a few lucky guests at special events in the bar at aqua nueva.

Winner of the prestigious World Class Global award, Charles travelled to Hong Kong with Luca to first showcase their Spirit of Summer cocktails at our sister restaurant aqua there, before flying back across the world to launch them here in London. All created using Cîroc Vodka, each cocktail evokes a dream summer destination – perfect for enjoying in aqua nueva’s new destination bar!

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aqua kyoto at Taste of London 2015

For five days last month, London’s famous Regent’s Park played host once again to Taste of London, the capital’s biggest and best restaurant festival – and we were delighted to take part for the first time, with aqua kyoto.
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Marine Menu marks Japan’s newest national day

Salmon sukiyaki somen noodles

Marine Day, also known as Ocean Day, is Japan’s newest national holiday, celebrated since 1996 and falling this year on July 20th. Marine Day is an opportunity to consider the importance of the ocean and its bounty to Japan as an island nation.

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MARIOS SCHWAB FOR AQUA KYOTOPHOTO BY DAVE BENETTMarios Schwab for aqua kyoto terrace 2Marios Schwab for aqua kyoto terrace 1

Marios Schwab creates London’s best-dressed terrace

Just in time for what we’re hoping will be a long, hot summer, we’re excited to announce that the aqua kyoto terrace has been stunningly redesigned by acclaimed fashion designer Marios Schwab.

One of the capital’s most technically skilled talents, famous for his understanding of the female form, the Marios Schwab for aqua kyoto terrace is a sophisticated fusion of soft furnishings featuring prints from Marios’s spring/summer 2015 collection, captivating lighting displays and thoughtfully-chosen plants.
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If you like Green Tea Colada…

Green Tea Colada at aqua spirit

Reimagining classic cocktails with contemporary ingredients and influences is one of the hallmarks of our bars manager Luca’s style. And few drinks demonstrate it better than his already-extremely-popular new Green Tea Colada, from aqua spirit‘s ‘Inspired by Japan’ selection.
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Inspired new cocktails


Recently we introduced our new bar manager Luca Missaglia and in our Q&A with him he revealed that there would be new cocktails on the list inspired by Japan for aqua spirit and aqua kyoto and by Spain for aqua nueva. This week we spent some time with Luca tasting the Inspired by Japan section (yes, it’s a tough job…!) and we think guests are going to be delighted with his new creations.
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