The sky seems to be the limit for Tokyo’s Virtu – and I’m not talking about its 39th-floor location atop the Four Seasons Tokyo hotel in Otemachi. The bar is this year’s winner of Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award as part of the 2024 iteration of Asia’s 50 Best Bars ranking.
It is the first award to be announced ahead of the annual ceremony, which will take place in Hong Kong on July 16. It is also the first time that a bar has opened in its country of origin omotenashi (hospitality) has earned the award since its first award in 2020.
This award is likely to further fuel interest in Virtu’s innovative cocktails. The bar is known for smoothly combining French and Japanese drinking cultures through concoctions that use spirits from both countries in creative and unexpected ways. The signature martini uses Japanese gin and whiskey accented with French vermouth Hinoki (cypress) bitter, while after dinner Takara (meaning ‘treasure’) mixes Japanese whiskey, vermouth, Chartreuse and Denki Bran, a quirky Japanese liqueur of the people famous for its shitamachi (downtown) origin in Asakusa.
