Leeds city centre cocktail bar the Hedonist uses art-works instead of words to describe drinks in its new menu

The Hedonist cocktail bar, in Lower Briggate, has created a new menu where gallery-style artworks are used to describe the drinks.

The menu, launched this week, will see the bar go “back to its roots” as one of the city centre’s quirkiest venues – and have drawn inspiration from some of the great artists of the 20th century.

Sam Wood, Drinks Development Manager at Hedonist, said: “We have always done pretty crazy things here, particularly in the past. It used to be a concept bar where we would rip out the entire interior every three months and start again.

"We would do things like having an Alpine ski lodge, a gin and tonic kitchen, an American saloon-type thing. We ended up settling on a friendly neighbourhood bar theme.

"But with this new menu and our past of pushing the envelope, we wanted to get back to our roots a little bit.”

After putting their heads together, the team came up with a “gallery cocktail menu” – a sensory menu in which cocktails are described by art works, rather than words.

"We commissioned eight pictures that represent the drinks we had created,” added Sam. “Each individual painting is a completely different art style.

"Rather than having classic drinks names and flavour descriptions, we have a portrait on one side and a description of the feeling it invokes.

"Instead of picking drinks from flavours, we want people to pick their drink from the artwork and the feelings that it inspires."

The menu takes inspiration from artists such as Jackson Pollock and Norman Rockwell, with names such as “Life’s a Peach”, “Sage Against the Machine”, “Orange Mingle” and “Hepburn”.

“We had a brainstorm, talking about the drinks and what feelings the drinks provoke in us,” he said. "We don’t want to be too pretentious though – if you really want to get to the end and just see what’s in the drink, there is a glossary!

"We are hoping for interaction with our guests on this – we pride ourselves on our level of service.

"We just want people to have fun with it – we do have that artistry and we care about the drinks we are creating. We want to do something unique and interesting.”

Sam has worked at the Hedonist for just under two years, having spent time at various other independent cocktail bars in Leeds over the years. So what does he think sets the Hedonist apart from its competition?

"I would say the creativity is the thing,” he said. “I have worked at high volume bars and restaurants – they all have their strengths and their weaknesses, but the main difference between a lot of venues and the Hedonist is that they fully invest in their staff. They believe that if you have a good idea and you have reasoning behind it, you can run with everything.”