Four cocktail recipes from the Park Hyatt to write home about

In a world that’s obsessed with what’s new and how fast, taking time to pause and reflect might just be the most valuable commodity out there. “It has this sense of stillness through time,” says Park Hyatt Toronto assistant beverage manager Lee Bonds of the Writers Room Bar. After undergoing a huge renovation, the newly reopened sky bar on the hotel’s 17th floor evokes the kind of dewy-eyed splendour one gets from looking back at the good ol’ days.

“It feels like a room that has a lot of stories,” he adds of the space infused with tributes to Canada’s literary legends, from the caricatures of authors like Margaret Atwood at the entrance to the quotes from home-grown writers on the cocktail menu, which added inspiration to Bonds’ recipes.

Lee Bonds, assistant beverage manager at the Park Hyatt Toronto

“Everything on the cocktail menu is stirred and contemplative, representing what I would drink throughout the creative process. If I’m going to sit down by a fireplace and write or read a book, I don’t necessarily think I’m going to grab a daiquiri or a margarita,” he chuckles.

Many of the drinks are booze-forward with spirits as dark as the room’s stained-oak walls. Although bourbon is welcomed, it’s Canadian rye whisky that’s on display. The drinks aren’t the only things with a strong sense of place. “I come back to the view — that’s the common tether through time,” says Bonds. It’s known as ‘the forever view’ because of the heritage buildings in front — even the iconic bar which overlooks them has been in the same place for decades. “You know a montage in a movie where they focus on two characters and everything around them is just going crazy? That’s sort of how I feel in this space, this place of permanence.”