Grown-up going out
Still want to enjoy the nightlife, but can`t stand teenage crowds? Voyager`s European correspondents recommend mature party spots in Copenhagen, Brussels and Zurich
Cocktail hour in Copenhagen
OVER THE LAST DECADE, COPENHAGEN HAS MORPHED FROM CARLSBERG TURF TO COCKTAIL CAPITAL. The result is a sophisticated hotel-and-restaurant bar scene tuned to the more mature party crowd. That doesn’t mean retiring early, though. Evening entertainment here starts late and cocktail hour doesn’t get going until after midnight on weekends. Designer hotel bars such as the Fox and Bar Rouge at Skt Petri have long been favourites with Copenhagen’s legions of beautiful people but try newer hotspots like U-bar, the redesigned cocktail lounge of stylish fusion restaurant Umami, and 1105 near Nyhavn, modelled on a discreet London hotel bar.
Not spiffy enough for you? Well, nothing heralds the arrival of ‘late youth’ like a taste for jazz. At Copenhagen’s Jazz House mixed drinks and instrumental breaks are served up every Friday and Saturday just after 11pm. The club begins once the headlining act of the evening has finished, allowing entry to the Jazz House at a knockdown rate of 80 krona (£9.50); full-price tickets covering the headline show and the club cost about 150 krona (£17.50). Alongside the martinis and Miles Davis, also look out for a little Saul Bass-style art adorning the Jazz House’s walls.
Just to the north west of the Jazz House lies Rust, in the hip quarter of Nørrebro. Rust opened in 1989 and has grown up gracefully with its clientele. Spread over three floors, it can house 670 club-goers, offering them live indie rock and DJs playing alternative hits. Though a wide range of ages pass through Rust’s doors, after 11pm it’s for over-20s only.
For a more refined setting try the bar in the literary-themed bar in the Plaza hotel. After all, if there’s one thing more likely to frighten off boorish under-25s than a book, it’s a room full of books. The Library Bar on the ground floor of Tivoli’s Hotel Plaza is a bibliophile’s dream, lined with leather-bound tomes. It’s open to the public until 2am on weekend nights and midnight during the week. Also, if you’re in town for business, you might want to meet your contacts here; Malcolm Forbes, former publisher of Forbes magazine, rated it among the five best bars in the world.
Finally, for an all-round cultural gem, take a late-night trip to Vega. Architecture buffs will be impressed by the building alone, a former leftist meeting house which dates from the 1950s and was designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen, a leading proponent of Nordic functionalism who also drew up plans for the city’s airport. Less high-minded nightbirds will delight in Vega’s wood-lined lounge, which offers a sliver of stillness within this beautiful club and live venue.
Davide Latimer and Gemma Elwin Harris
U-bar at Umami
59 Store Kongensgade, +45 3338 7500, www.restaurantumami.dk
1105
4 Kristen Bernikows Gade, +45 3393 1105, www.1105.dk
Jazz House
10 Niels Hemmingsens Gade, +45 3315 4700, www.jazzhouse.dk
Rust
8 Guldbergsgade, +45 3524 5200, www.rust.dk
Library Bar
Copenhagen Plaza, 4 Bernstorffsgade +45 3314 9262, www.profilhotels.com
Vega
40 Enghavevej, +45 3325 7011, www.vega.dk
Brussels on chill
ALTHOUGH BRUSSELS HAS A REPUTATION AS A PARTY-HARD CITY FOR YOUNG EURO INTERNS, there are plenty of grown-up nightspots ideal for chilling. The key is knowing where to find them.
Start by ringing the doorbell at L’Archiduc, a delightful Art Deco jazz bar on the fashionable rue Antoine Dansaert. The decor conjures up 1930s-era spy thrillers with its curvy balcony, chrome pillars and a grand piano that supposedly once belonged to crooner Jacques Brel. Try the Georges Simenon (named for the Belgian mystery writer) cocktail, a mix of Campari, gin and grapefruit.
Further down Dansaert, near the canal, Café Modèle is a new magnet for the boho-chic plotting their next travel adventures. The latest venture of local legend Frédéric Nicolay, Modèle is an urban canteen by day that takes on a new ambiance after dark with DJs, pub quizzes and even film screenings. The drinks selection is decent but not overwhelming, and complemented by Mediterranean nibbles.
In the multi-cultural St Gilles neighbourhood, the Art Nouveau-style Café Maison du Peuple is part art gallery, part nightclub, part café. It already has a loyal following since opening in 2008 in the former headquarters of the Belgian workers’ party. Every night feels like a party at a friend’s house. Get there by 9pm for live music, or after 10pm on weekends for DJ-spun soul, funk, house and electro pop.
A bruxellois classic, Goupil le Fol near the Manneken Pis fountain is where Austin Powers would hang out if he visited Belgium. Housed in a former brothel, the place feels like an attic or junk shop with its bric-a-brac and worn-out sofas. Ideal for couples with its dark nooks and crannies, it’s the perfect place to end the night listening to Edith Piaf from the jukebox while sipping the famed house fruit wine.
Renée Cordes
L’Archiduc
6 Rue Antoine Dansaert, +32 2 512 0652, www.archiduc.net
Café Modèle
208 Rue Antoine Dansaert, +32 2 503 3724, www.cafemodele.be
Café Maison du Peuple
39 Parvis Saint-Gilles, +32 2 850 0908 www.maison-du-peuple.be
Goupil le Fol
22 Rue de la Violette, +32 2 511 1396
Zurich after dark
WITH A NIGHTCLUBS-PER-CAPITA COUNT UNMATCHED BY ANY OTHER EUROPEAN CITY, Zurich is a stylish swirl of cool bars and counter-culture nightlife. The scene is focused around the Kreis 4 and 5 districts, home to a new generation of cultural entrepreneurs who are driving Zurich’s dynamic after-dark spirit.
Nowhere captures the local urban attitude better than the boho riverside bar Pier West. Once a rather shabby, small bathing area, it’s now swarming on warm summer evenings with hundreds of laid-back locals who love its St Tropez spirit. Most lounge around on the huge day beds, sipping caipirinha cocktails while DJs pump out sensual electro grooves.
In the same district, but hidden down an alley off Langstrasse, is the cool warehouse setting of Bling. Pop-art photographs hang over pastel-coloured sofas and vast windows overlook the city’s main railway lines. Its soundtrack of minimal tech beats attracts those who still like their music underground but their surroundings high on the style factor.
A newer addition to the Zurich West scene is Exil, whose combination of punk-chic interior and concerts from buzzing new bands has quickly made it an essential city nightspot. Also close by is the enigmatic Cabaret Club whose enticing programme of edgy electronica played by a number of Berlin’s best DJs, alongside burlesque cabaret shows, is pulling in a cultured crowd who still like to party hard. Nowhere perhaps captures new Zurich better than here.
Back towards the city centre, the bar of chic boutique hotel Helvetia is exactly the point where Zurich’s busy banking zone meets the pulsating, youthful, Kreis 4 district. During the week its pretty riverside terrace fills up with networking, influential locals who love to drink a glass of the Puro wine produced by Swiss pop star Dieter Meier (of Yello).
Celeste Neill
Pier West
(May-September) 10 Lettensteg, +41 (0)44 361 0737, www.pierwest.ch
Bling
22 Neufrankengasse, +41 (0)43 317 1550 www.bling-zuerich.ch
Exil
245 Hardstrasse, www.exil.cl
Cabaret Club
15 Geroldstrasse, www.cabaret.im
Helvetia
1 Stauffacherquai, +41 (0)44 297 9999, www.hotel-helvetia.ch
