Bar Benfiddich Takes Over China Tang at The Dorchester
London’s glittering cocktail scene is about to welcome a visitor from another world. On 4 March, for one night only, Bar Benfiddich, ranked No.18 in The World’s 50 Best Bars and named Japan’s Best Bar 2025, will take over The Bar at China Tang at The Dorchester. The evening marks the first-ever UK appearance of Hiroyasu Kayama, the Tokyo bartender whose name has become a synonym for quiet mastery and ritualistic precision.
Kayama’s bar in Tokyo’s Nishi-Shinjuku district has become something of a modern legend. There is no menu. Instead, guests describe a mood, a memory, or a feeling, and Kayama interprets it into liquid form. His practice is part bartending, part alchemy: herbs crushed by hand, bitters infused on the spot, and each cocktail built with the same calm intensity as a tea ceremony. His drinks are intimate, often fleeting, rooted in the seasons yet timeless in their composition. When he stirs a cocktail, it feels as though the whole room pauses to watch.
For his London debut, Kayama will design four cocktails exclusively for the takeover, alongside two original creations by China Tang’s bar team, led by Bar Manager Erik Lanza and Assistant Bar Manager Levs Surovecs. Guests will be welcomed with a glass of sparkling sake courtesy of Akashi-Tai before moving through a six-cocktail tasting experience that bridges East and West. Expect the depth of Japanese whisky, the delicacy of sake, and the subtle theatrics of Kayama’s craftsmanship performed within the mirrored bar of one of London’s most glamorous dining rooms.
Behind the scenes, China Tang is quietly reinventing itself. Once known primarily as a post-dinner retreat for Mayfair’s social set, the bar is expanding its cultural footprint. The takeover coincides with a refreshed spring programme that includes extended late-night hours and live jazz sessions beginning later in March. The new direction invites guests to linger, to let the night stretch past dinner and into something slower, softer, and altogether more cinematic.
Behind the scenes, China Tang is quietly reinventing itself. Once known primarily as a post-dinner retreat for Mayfair’s social set, the bar is expanding its cultural footprint. The takeover coincides with a refreshed spring programme that includes extended late-night hours and live jazz sessions beginning later in March. The new direction invites guests to linger, to let the night stretch past dinner and into something slower, softer, and altogether more cinematic.
Opened in 2005 by the late Sir David Tang, the restaurant remains one of London’s enduring institutions of glamour. Its Art Deco interiors, lacquered screens, and candlelit bar recall the splendour of 1930s Shanghai filtered through British refinement. That mix of East and West makes it the perfect stage for Kayama’s singular approach. Where he works in silence, China Tang hums with conversation and music; together, they will create a moment suspended between two worlds.
The event, organised in partnership with Akashi-Tai, is also a celebration of craftsmanship. Each ingredient, from the Japanese fruits used for garnishes to the locally sourced herbs, has been selected to express a dialogue between cultures. For £20 per cocktail, guests will experience what is effectively a conversation between two creative philosophies: Japan’s ritual of restraint and Britain’s appetite for indulgence.
It would be easy to call this collaboration a “takeover,” but that word feels too loud for what Kayama does. His work is about presence rather than performance, precision rather than pomp. At The Dorchester, beneath the soft glow of gold and glass, the experience will feel like slipping into another rhythm—Tokyo’s calm heartbeat, pulsing quietly in the centre of London.
