Unable to score a decent Dry Martini in Brixton in the 90s - although, Jah knows, you could score all other manner of skanky shit in Railton Road's shebeens BITD - so hacked off was my colonial friend Kitty, to London's shame, she upped sticks and fled back to South Africa where the bars were better, she said; opening her own on Jo'burg's Rocky Street, to prove a point. Thankfully, we've come a long long way since the Malibu and milk days (a 'cocktail' I was once offered on Coldharbour Lane) and Kitty's old crib is nowadays awash with great booze ops where the £9 price of a fix would fix you up with a rented flat for a month in Jo'Burg.
Not to be confused with Swedish songbirds First Aid Kit, First Aid Box - a similarly cool, indie outfit - is cocktail consultants Salts of The Earth’s kooky follow-up to Shrub and Shutter. As themes go, clinical (complete with syringes and plasma bags) is not entirely new; Damien Hirst got there first in the 90s. But FAB’s fab remedial rinses should ensure their little white box, unlike Hirst’s laughably hubristic, mercifully short-lived Pharmacy, does not also become a Sainsbury's Local. A selection called ‘Doctors Orders’ angles to offset the evils of alcohol with current health nut freak fave ingredients such as quinoa, royal honey and blueberries. Live dangerously with rococo rum’n’coco’ slurp, Jungle Fever or Campari-based smoking bittersweet sip, Coffee + Cigarettes, safe in the knowledge that classic cure-all, Penicillin is also available on prescription. In-patients’ diet sheet options include ceviche, beef carpaccio, superfood salads, quality charcuterie and artisan cheeses; not your NHS norm at this lovely lounge by Brockwell Park Lido
119 Dulwich Road SE24 0NG http://firstaidbox2015.com
Original review at www.squaremeal.co.uk
