The striped lamp’s swirling motion evokes a barber’s pole, assuring me that I’ve found the right spot – not for a cut, but for an expertly mixed drink. As I push open the heavy door at the bottom of the staircase, a dapper fellow sporting a fedora greets me with the air of a circus ringmaster. It’s clear that something special is about to happen.
Indeed, from April 24 to July 10, the Barcelona-based speakeasy Bobby’s Free is taking over Abajo, the subterranean cocktail lounge adjacent to the Spanish restaurant Tinc Gana in Tokyo’s Ichigaya neighborhood. Jerome Quilbeuf — who, in addition to Tinc Gana and Abajo, runs Gracia in the Hiroo area and Mi Casa in Kamakura, as well as his eponymous cheesecake specialty shop in Ginza — approached Bobby’s Free owner Eric Basset with the idea of doing a pop-up after opening Abajo in late January.
“I’m a chef, not a bartender, so this is an opportunity to learn from one of the best bars in Barcelona,” Quilbeuf says with a laugh. “Plus, we’re both French guys with businesses in Spain, so we have a lot in common.”