New Bar: Providence Cocktail Bar

By Sky Gidge, April 13, 2016

If Coco Park is sex with a stranger, Providence is a first date with someone you’ll marry.

“We’re looking for the people who have given up on going out,” says owner Beck Salander. Later, he describes it as a place for those “who care about what’s in the glass.”

Since opening a few months ago, Providence has positioned itself as the answer to what is wrong with nightlife in Shenzhen; a lodestar to the wave of craft-cocktail bars opening across the city.

The decor is simple with black Australian leather seating, real candles, sanded wood tables and music that is kept quiet enough for date-night whispers.

A 10-meter mahogany bar reflects dimmed Edison bulbs as the first drink of the night is set down, a dark and stormy (RMB70): black seal rum complimenting homemade ginger beer topped with a lime wedge – specifically, a Thai lime wedge. Providence recently dropped a supplier that swapped in Taiwanese limes for Thai. (“If you’re making a cocktail, there is no substitute.”)

Providence puts a special twist on classic cocktails – or invents the cocktail. The florist (RMB70) is one of the more popular drinks original to the bar. The pink vodka-based drink is a balance of lemon juice and lavender syrup served in a coupette and garnished by a floating lavender sprig. Peach bitters are added after the shake and strain, leaving more peach aroma than flavor.

A lot of thought goes into what gets poured into a glass – or even put on it – with a Scotch whiskey sour coming adorned with lemon peel, mint and a cooked cherry.

Salander is adamant that all 260 spirits stocked are genuine, explaining that 90 percent of sellers refuse to do business with Providence when they are asked to write detailed receipts, making the sellers legally responsible for anything fake.