Occupying the ground floors of Parkview Square in Singapore, the highly acclaimed bar specializing in gin was opened on 25 March 2017. Within the same year, Atlas bar landed itself the 15th spot on the World’s Best Bars list. It also won the ‘Highest New Entry’ title. In 2018, it moved up 7 spots to 8th. In 2019, Atlas Bar ranked 5th on the Asia’S 50 Best Bars list representing Singapore in the Top 10 alongside Manhattan Bar, Native Cocktail Bar and Jigger and Pony. Atlas was founded by Vicky Hwang, Managing Director of Chyau Fwu Development Singapore and granddaughter of CS Hwang who is the founder of the property firm, Chyau Fwu Group.
Atlas Bar follows the design style of Parkview Square. Built in 2002, the 144-metre high building has a classic Art Deco style. The aesthetic of the bar draws inspiration from the 1920s. The 7,400-square-foot space features custom-made tufted banquette seating and glossy marble finishings. The Art Deco style is consistently reflected in the bar’s glassware as well. The glassware is mainly sourced from John Jenkins — a century-old family-run business which also supplies to the British royal family. The bar’s decor aimed to immerse patrons in a 1920s ‘Jazz Age’ glamour while maintaining a level of intimacy through detailed spatial planning. To achieve this immersion, localized ambient lighting compliments gilded brass elements and the iconic ceiling murals. It takes into consideration the diffusion of sunlight during different hours of the day.
Drink creations at Atlas Bar pay tribute to historical events that occurred between 1900 to 1939 — including the discovery of King Tutankhamunmummy in 1922. From sourced ingredients to reference books such as ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’ by Harry Craddock, the bar highlights elements that express the ‘joie de vivre’ of the era. In addition to cocktails, the bar serves a selection of savoury and sweet food in their afternoon Tea menu and modern western cuisines from the dining menu.
Atlas has one of the world’s largest collections of gin sourced from various corners of the world. The centrepiece of Atlas Bar is a three-storey (15-metre-tall) gin tower which houses over 1,300 gins. The bottles are categorised in tiers. Top-level (rare) spirits are only introduced upon discretion. The second tier follows the ‘Gin Ration’ decree — whereby guests are only allowed one pour of each gin per visit. All bottles in the gin collection reportedly have a high Alcohol By Volume (ABV) measure of at least 40% ABV. The centrepiece was previously used as a wine chiller for the former occupant — Divine Wine Extraordinaire wine bar. It served as a part of a grandiose feature which saw an employee dressed up as a fairy to retrieve wine using a pulley system.
Located at the base of the gin tower is the walk-in champagne room with a collection of at least 300 types of champagne. Atlas engages a personal pilot to make two monthly trips to Champagne to increase supplies. Part of the collection includes Heidsieck & Co Monopole’s “Goût Américain“. Labelled as the ‘Shipwreck Champagne’, it has lived through almost a century of history — from a shipwreck by a German submarine in 1916 to its salvage from the Baltic Sea in 1988. The same label was reportedly served on the Titanic in 1912. As of 2019, The ‘Shipwreck Champagne’ retails at Atlas for S$190,700 a bottle. A reinterpretation of the historic champagne is sold exclusively at Atlas for S$170 per bottle until October 2020.
