The Champagne Bar at The Surf Club sits within the Four Seasons Hotel Surfside, a building that opened in 1930 at the height of Prohibition and counts Frank Sinatra and Winston Churchill among its historic clientele. The room has cathedral-like proportions – soaring ceilings, chandeliers, plush sofas – with palm trees and sweeping ocean views beyond the terrace. The space was sensitively renovated in 2013, and the historic bones of the building remain the dominant presence. Evening programming regularly includes live saxophonists, violinists, and DJs, with jazz ensembles and Cuban rhythms among the recurring formats.

Every section of the menu opens with the original classic before moving through a Miami-inspired reinterpretation drawing on local ingredients including guava, passion fruit, and Cuban espresso, and concluding with a sparkling version incorporating Champagne or Franciacorta, tying every drink back to the bar’s identity. The current menu, Echo of the Surf Club, features 21 cocktails built on this framework. Glassware pictograms guide guests through the selection. Beyond the printed menu, a cocktail cart brings a bartender tableside to craft something entirely bespoke to the guest’s preferences, and a curated selection of classics – the Bijou, Bamboo, Corpse Reviver No.2, Champs-Élysées, Clover Club, Hanky Panky, and Pegu Club among them – is available on request.

The lab operation behind the menu is handled by a dedicated prep bartender working full-time, equipped with a centrifuge, Spinzall, vacuum sealer, citrus press, and juice extractor. Techniques include fast fat-washing, milk and centrifuge clarification, distillations, oleo extractions, gelling, acid adjustments without citrus, and the use of enzymes alongside the Spinzall to achieve precise textures and clarities. House-made preparations include an Olive Cordial, Honeydew Cordial, Shishito Cucumber Oleo Cordial, and Louisiana Cake Cordial. Super juice and acidification techniques extend the life of citrus beyond its initial press, and by-products are consistently repurposed into garnishes, cordials, or syrups. Ice is cut and shaped in-house from large clear blocks, tailored to each cocktail’s specific dilution and aesthetic needs. A cigar list allows guests to extend the experience further, and guests are welcomed with complimentary Castelvetrano olives and artisanal taralli on arrival.

The same attention given to the drinks programme extends to the people who deliver it. Tips are distributed democratically – the team votes collectively on how the pool is divided, with every voice carrying equal weight from barbacks through to lead bartenders, and management holding no access to the fund. After late shifts, the team is returned home by the hotel’s house car service, or offered overnight accommodation on-site when needed. Staff turnover is exceptionally low – many of the current team started in entry-level positions and have built their careers here, and the bar consistently places first in the hotel’s annual employee satisfaction survey. The bar sponsors a football team for children from Miami’s Haitian immigrant community, organising two tournaments a year and providing ongoing financial support. Local residents are offered dedicated discounts, and the bar runs regular events designed to connect the Champagne Bar to the neighbourhood it sits in.