Bukit Guide, drink

DRINK

Squirrelled away under an Italian restaurant on Ulu’s golden mile, Jalan (street) Labuansait, is a small nondescript room. There, a doorman escorts you to an unmarked door that leads into a stairwell and Notte Bali, a dimly lit speakeasy that is as sophisticated and sexy as the most exclusive cocktail bars in London and New York. Think dim lighting, plush carpets, private booths and a sleek bar fronted with lounge chairs and stocked with thousands of bottles of top-shelf liquor.

There you’ll find Taketo Utsunomiya, who is, without even a sliver of a doubt, the most knowledgeable bartender in Bali. Taketo’s cocktails are not gimmicky or sweet: they’re works of art made with the love and passion of a consummate professional who’s spent decades refining his craft.

After taking a seat at the bar, guests are offered warm face towels and a menu with a library-like selection of fine cocktails, mocktails, spirits and wines. However, Taketo also offers a bespoke service, for which he asks guests about their mood, the type of liquor they normally drink, and their preferred flavour profiles. He then takes that information and invents new stuff on the spot with astonishing attention to detail and results.

When my drinking companion orders a dry martini, he marinates the olives in a shot glass full of salt water for added flavour, and sprays a precise amount of vermouth in a stylish long-stem martini glass using a perfume bottle. When I order a bourbon and Coke, but the best bourbon and Coke in Bali, he takes out a block of ice and shaves it into a cube that prevents my drink from getting waterlogged before mixing a precise combination of Maker’s Mark, which is sweet, and Bulleit Rye whiskey, which is sour, before adding small amounts of Coke until it’s perfect. And when another companion orders a cosmopolitan, which in most places is cranberry juice and vodka with a squeeze of lime, he flavours the rim with glass with lime skin, adds Grey Goose vodka, hand-pressed cranberry juice, orange zest and some other stuff I can’t remember (the drinks at Notte aren’t cheap at $20-$30 a pop, but they’re strong).

Then there’s the conversation: Taketo is a master of that too, regaling our group with stories about his career behind the bar and secrets of his craft. “Barenting is not just about the bar. It’s about tending to your guests. But you also need to know when not to talk,” he says.

Notte is not about theatrics. And it’s not the kind of place you go to pick up. You won’t find influencers flashing their boobs in front of the camera phone for likes. And you won’t hear any DJs — only soft jazz and blues music in the background.

Notte is a place to unwind, a place that invites you to linger, a place for good conversation, really good cocktails and Cuban cigars, a place to enjoy company and good conversation after dark.