Dawn Hindle - The Pikes Cocktail Book: Rock n roll cocktails from one of the worlds most iconic hotels

ROCK N ROLL
RECIPES FROM THE ICONIC
IBIZAN HOTEL CONTENTS G od, I want a beer. Is that a weird opening to a cocktail book? Maybe, but its fucking hot and I really want a cold lager in a frosty glass. Ive just landed in Ibiza and the first thing that hits you when you leave the airport is the heat. It slaps you right in the face. Sounds obvious, but its true - the heat, the sun, the noise and the excitement. Theres an energy crackling - people dance their way to their taxi and bus pick ups, weaving among the honking taxi drivers.

Cares are left at passport control. People come to Ibiza to have fun. And thats exactly what theyre going to do. For me, Im going to think about having that frosty beer. Hailing a cab from the rank, I thank the gods of air con as I settle into the leather seat and tune into into the generic house beats coming from the stereo. As we head out of the airport under a flawless blue sky, and follow the signs to San Antonio, things couldn't get much more Balearic.

I pay no heed to the vast billboards advertising megastar DJs in San Antonio as they flash by. Im going somewhere special, Im heading up into the hills. Im following in the footsteps of George Michael as he wound his way through the back roads with Andrew Ridgeley to the place where drinks are free; where strangers take you by the hand, and welcome you to wonderland. Fun and sunshine, theres enough for everyone. Im headed to the original Club Tropicana. Im heading to Pikes.

Pikes is an iconic Ibizan institution, steeped in rock n roll history and brimming with personality its famous aquamarine pool was the actual location for a young, tanned and toned George Michael and the infamous Club Tropicana video. And all of it was created by one man, the great, late Tony Pike, who passed away at the age of 86 in early 2019 after leading one of the fullest lives there could be. The story of how Tony stumbled upon and then decided to create Pikes with his bare hands is Ibizan folklore. But its all true. 500 years after this fine finca youre standing in was built, Australian yachtsman, businessman and bon viveur Tony Pike washed up on the shores of Ibiza, after being shipwrecked in the Caribbean, hurtling down the Cresta Run and selling superyachts to the rich and famous in Monaco. Tony was persuaded to visit Ibiza by a friend and when he stepped off the ferry he felt a connection with the place.

He felt like he was home When he saw this falling-down farmhouse was called Casa Tonitini, he bought the place. Tony had a vision he wanted to build his own hotel and fill it with fun. Over the next 30 years, with the help of his partner Lyn, son Bradley, local builder Phil the Chin and a mob of drunks picked from the Ibizan beaches, he fulfilled this vision. Starting with just a rundown place, a bucket for a toilet and a fire on the kitchen floor, he set to work. The first thing he did was put that famous orange bathroom in Room 1 and things snowballed from there. He stole picture frames from abandoned churches, salvaged double doors from Spanish brothels and, with no real blueprints, architecture know-how or much building experience, built the rooms as and how he saw fit.

People are drawn to the hotel because its where George Michael sang about the place where memberships a smiling face, where legends like Grace Jones, Spandau Ballet, Kylie Minogue, Bon Jovi, Tony Curtis, Artwork, Jamie xx, Mark Ronson, Honey Dijon, Robyn, The Black Madonna, Fatboy Slim, DJ Harvey, Naomi Campbell, Julio Iglesias, Ed Sheeran, Arctic Monkeys, Yes, The Vaccines, Disclosure, Sam Smith, Nile Rodgers, LCD Soundsystem, Seth Troxler, Carl Cox, Frank Zappa and many more have partied all night long. Freddie Mercury, of course, loved it here and his 41st birthday was the most lavish party ever seen on the island. Freddies first performance of Barcelona was in the Potting Shed on back terrace. People come here because they want to have a good time and nowadays they do it in Freddie Mercurys old bedroom thats been converted into a nightclub. In 2011, Dawn Hindle and Andy McKay, founders of Ibiza icons Manumission and Ibiza Rocks, took over the hotel, and ensured Tonys vision would carry on. They added more rock 'n' roll with the bands who come to Ibiza to play for them staying, and partying hard, here; the weekend parties; DJ residencies, Sunnys bathroom karaoke and boudoir.

They also brought in the amazing Room 39 restaurant with the very highest quality modern cuisine. And, most recently, The Curiosity Shoppe, serving some of the most exciting cocktails on the island - the whole reason youre reading this book. Tony curated something amazing. The hotel literally has his DNA in it The walls around the pool will forever ring with Tonys incredible stories - a few of which are recounted in this very book. Back in the cab, and the driver just skims into the suburbs of the party town of San Antonio but, instead of taking me deeper to the strip, he hangs a right at the roundabout and we head out of town. As you drive away from San Antonio, the roads grow a little quieter, the air seems a bit fresher and the energy relaxes slightly.

Local farmers sit and ponder the world outside a taverna with a beer and all the time in the world. Just past this taverna youll come to a sharp right turn and a battered old sign bearing the name of the hotel. As you drive up the bumpy, lumpy road, youre surrounded by flat, cropless fields and those not in the know might start wondering where a hotel can be. Where are the hoardings, the advertising, the big flashing sign saying, Step this way? There are none. The road goes on just long enough to feel like youve probably, almost definitely, taken a wrong turn, when the car park appears on the right, annotated by a vintage tiled Pikes logo. Im here, I must be here.

We pull in and park next to the modest entrance, an unassuming portal of just a few steps and a path under an archway that leads between some trees, grass and past what looks like a fake sheep. The air is thick with the scent of lavender and jasmine. I can hear a hubbub from within. A gentle whump whump of some laid-back dub beats. The wind rustles the leaves in the trees and the background vocals of cicadas chirrup endlessly. For just a brief moment, before I walk up those steps, the calm atmosphere belies the extraordinary goings on that occur beyond these walls.