The Spirits: sky high drinking

Until recently, the Londoner who wanted to get high and drunk at the same time had limited options. The champagne bar at the top of Tower 42 has vertiginous views, but the atmosphere is thin up there and the airport-style security no fun at all.

It’s certainly no match for the elegance of the Mandarin Oriental in New York, where a 35th-floor view of Central Park atones for the $18 Manhattans. And that pales next to the stunning 41st-floor bar at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo, where neon megalopolis unfurls endlessly in all directions.

Perhaps we simply need to learn to own our skyscrapers. Duck & Waffle, which opened last year on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower, was a promising start. On Monday, the launch of Rainer Becker’s Oblix in The Shard looks set to accelerate the trend.

On a preview visit yesterday, I found the head barlady Wendy (late of the Connaught) straining butter-infused whisky as her colleagues hacked up huge pieces of ice.

A grand piano was being tuned; a New Orleans-themed cocktail menu printed. It may only be on the 32nd floor, but considering a trip to the viewing platform is £25 (and they don’t serve Sazeracs up there), it’s enough to make you think Renzo Piano’s tower was a good idea.

Still, you don’t need to go so high to get that swaying feeling. A margarita or five will do the trick at the breezy Radio Bar on the 10th floor of the ME Hotel in Aldwych, where my friend Cleo Rocos recently launched her book, The Power Of Positive Drinking.

Here, you get a view over the Thames, and also into the top-floor penthouse suite. According to an indiscreet staff member, a City boy had recently entertained two women there, leaving the curtains open so everyone could see what a player he was.

But that’s the trouble with being on top of the world. Delusions of grandeur. Perhaps that’s why we cling to the gutter.