Bobby’s Free pop-up mixes fresh Barcelonian and Prohibition creations

The striped lamp’s swirling movement evokes a barber’s pole, assuring me that I’ve discovered the correct spot – not for a minimize, however for an expertly combined drink. As I push open the heavy door on the backside of the staircase, a dapper fellow sporting a fedora greets me with the air of a circus ringmaster. It’s clear that one thing particular is about to occur.

Certainly, from April 24 to July 10, the Barcelona-based speakeasy Bobby’s Free is taking on Abajo, the subterranean cocktail lounge adjoining to the Spanish restaurant Tinc Gana in Tokyo’s Ichigaya neighborhood. Jerome Quilbeuf — who, along with Tinc Gana and Abajo, runs Gracia within the Hiroo space and Mi Casa in Kamakura, in addition to his eponymous cheesecake specialty store in Ginza — approached Bobby’s Free proprietor Eric Basset with the concept of doing a pop-up after opening Abajo in late January.

“I’m a chef, not a bartender, so this is a chance to be taught from top-of-the-line bars in Barcelona,” Quilbeuf says with fun. “Plus, we’re each French guys with companies in Spain, so we’ve loads in frequent.”