a day ago
Osaka's Canes & Tales raises a glass to bygone charms
On a Sunday evening, Frank Sinatra's voice floats from hidden speakers as four strangers gather around a curved green marble bar. The coruscating glow from the gold-lined, domed ceiling lends the scene a cinematic allure — but this isn't a film set.
This is Canes & Tales, the moody speakeasy perched on the 28th floor of the newly opened Waldorf Astoria Osaka in the city's Umekita neighborhood.
Designed by acclaimed architect Andre Fu, the bar's interior draws inspiration from Art Deco architecture and reflects Fu's signature style: theatrical yet refined. Guests enter through an unmarked green door into a narrow corridor lined with emerald wallpaper patterned with playful animal-shaped cane motifs. Inside, the space is defined by gemstone tones and seductive textures: velvet-upholstered chairs, brass-accented lighting and a softly illuminated bar.
'It's like a gentleman's club through time, from the 1800s, when gentlemen set their canes at the door, all the way to the 1930s Americana jazz age,' says mixology director Dominic Dijkstra.
Mixology director Dominic Dijkstra shakes up cocktails inspired by American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories. |
WALDORF ASTORIA OSAKA
There's also a visual reference to Osaka's own bygone era, courtesy of three ceramic art installations that command attention along a wall. The large-format, blue-glazed tiles, bar manager Masahiko Ohama tells me, are reproductions of 'Shinpan Osaka no Zu,' a 1657 map that traces the city's intricate web of bridges, canals and castle grounds. Each panel depicts a different view of ancient Osaka. The slabs are specially produced by Otsuka Ohmi Ceramics, a company known for producing large-scale ceramics for decorative and restoration purposes.
A curated bookshelf near the entrance houses mixology texts from around the world, offering inspiration and technical insight to local bartenders. Canes & Tales' own muse turns out to be F. Scott Fitzgerald: The 11 cocktails on the menu each correspond to a story from the American novelist's 'Tales of the Jazz Age,' a 1922 collection that blends the romantic, the philosophical and the surreal.
I sink into a plush, peach-orange chair at a table overlooking Osaka's glittering skyline and sip a Camel's Back cocktail. The drink is perfumed with Chartreuse, a French herbal liqueur, and infused with earthy burdock root, a savory ingredient more often found in Japanese comfort dishes like kinpira gobō , where it's stir-fried with carrots and soy sauce. The result is a tipple that's herbal, balanced and refreshing.
The Camel's Back is a refreshing cocktail made with Chartreuse liqueur and infused with burdock root. |
WALDORF ASTORIA OSAKA
I also sample a cocktail called Mr. Icky, which Dijkstra says is a nod to Fitzgerald's short satirical play about generational divides and 'changes over time.' It's a riff on a Negroni made with shōchū (traditional Japanese distilled spirit) instead of gin and mellowed inside a clay vessel, which softens the edges and imparts a faint mineral note. A crisp wasabi-leaf tempura garnish underscores the drink's mild bitter notes, while a whisper of truffle honey lingers on the finish.
But the runaway star is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, its name taken from the short story about a man who ages in reverse. The cocktail captures the whimsical intent of this tale by letting guests choose the age of their base spirit for a Manhattan-style drink. I opt for a Glenfarclas 25 Year Old single malt Scotch whisky, and what arrives is quite possibly the best Manhattan I've ever had: velvety, warm with vanilla notes and tinged with a nutty, sherry-like richness.
The food menu echoes the bar's cross-cultural approach, reimagining popular New York-style bites like the hot dog and lobster roll with Japanese precision. A miniature Reuben slider distills all the layered flavor of the iconic sandwich in a single delicate bite.
Perhaps most compelling, however, is Canes & Tales' quiet ambition to become a hub for Osaka's bartending community.
'The Osaka cocktail scene is underrepresented,' says Dijkstra. 'Most of the focus has been on Tokyo for the last 10 years, but honestly, Osaka has a fantastic bar scene .'
Twice-monthly guest shifts will spotlight talent from across Japan and abroad, with visiting bartenders conducting seminars and sharing techniques with the Kansai bar community. Bartenders from the Manhattan bar in Singapore have already made an appearance in April, and plans include bartenders from Fukuoka, Kagoshima and Osaka's Bible Club — where Dijkstra worked in 2018 — to highlight Japan's regional cocktail talent beyond the capital.
"If we can be successful as a bar and incorporate ourselves into the community as a whole," Dijkstra says, "then that's a great position for us to be in."
