BERNADINE BRÖCKER
After an excited invitation to a "viney, ritzy place near Selfridges," I make my way to 21 Duke street wearing a long black dress, pearls, and assorted costume jewellery, feeling anachronistic as I walk past the crowd before Moose, another new bar on Duke Street.
There are no signs on what you will encounter at Salon d'Ete, the pop-up venue above a late-night club called L'Equipe Anglais. Once you get past the security, a long dark hallway leads to closed doors; besides the people walking in wearing fedora's and retro hairstyles, the place is a mystery.
But as soon as those doors swing open, and your eyes adjust - it's like you walk into another time period. The smoky room is indeed overgrown by vines and plants, with a stage at the back and many tables of good-looking people who seem to have stepped out of another time save for the shorter skirts and stilettos.
Besides the live music, the swing is in the step of waitresses, in the gleeful cocktails and shots (Craque Bebé to name one), in the caned swing dangling in the foyer, and in the champagne served in the characteristic Perrier Jouet belle epoque flowered flutes. This is some "Swing, Swing, Swing" that Benny Goodman would have been proud of. I've come back with new friends since, and each time we leave with a twinkle in our eyes. "Do you imagine what it would have been like, living in the thirties?" Nope, but this summer salon gets darn close to what I dream it to be.
Salon d'Eté is open Fridays and Saturdays until 11 pm.
Strict door policy, and entree fees vary between 10 to 20 pounds.
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