The Book Tower’s Basement Now Hides a Japanese Cocktail Experience

The Aladdin Sane, the subterranean Japanese-inspired cocktail bar that debuted in January 2024 sits in the lower level of the 38-story Book Tower and takes cues from the traditional omakase experience with bartenders using a curated cocktail tasting menu as a method for exploration. The bar, one of six food and beverage businesses operated by Philly-based Method Hospitality, adjoins modern Japanese restaurant Hiroki San — both situated in the basement of the historic skyscraper. While diners can feast on courses of wagyu, decadent nigiri platters, and robatayaki at Hiroki San, they can make a stop at the Aladdin Sane next door for a winding nightcap, with an omakase-style cocktail service. Hiroki-San is inspired by 2019 Eater Award finalist restaurant, Hiroki in Philadelphia founded by chef Hiroki Fujiyama. [Image: https://platform.detroit.eater.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25832989/The_Aladdin_Sane__Bar_2_by_Matthew_Williams.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all] Reservations are not required for the omakase service, which quietly launched toward the end of 2024. Instead, just let the bartender know you’re interested in the omakase and allow at least an hour to 90 minutes to enjoy a progression of three to four cocktails, starting with an amuse-bouche. The cocktail omakase ranges from $75 to $95 per customer. The omakase-style cocktail service takes nods from the “leave it to the chef” sushi bar experience with the bartender driving the experience. The menu changes weekly, and rightly features drinks named after David Bowie’s music — a nod to Fujiyama’s deep appreciation for the artist (the bar is also named after Bowie’s sixth studio album released in 1973). Drinks include the Panic in Detroit, made with rum, lime, sakura, seltzer, and mint. Beverage director Patrick Jobst tells Eater that rum was used in this drink in reference to the first line of the song, “He looked a lot like Che Guevara,” drawing from Cuban inspiration. To Jobst, listening to Bowie’s “Panic in Detroit” reminds him of a darker period in the Motor City’s history. Jobst believes that the use of fresh, bright, and aromatic ingredients like mint and sakura represent the resurgence that downtown Detroit has enjoyed over the past decade or so. “It’s acknowledging that the Aladdin Sane cocktail bar is a huge part of the [city’s] restoration and resurgence,” says Jobst. [Image: https://platform.detroit.eater.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25832999/PanicinDetroit.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] [Image: https://platform.detroit.eater.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25833000/SakeandStrangeDivine.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] [Image: https://platform.detroit.eater.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25833001/TakumiManhattan.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] The omakase experience also gives visitors a taste of the bar’s vast spirits collection. The menu boasts a collection of rare whiskies, including Yamazaki 18 100th Anniversary Edition, and claims to possess the only bottle of Glenfiddich 29-Year Grand Yozakura available in a Michigan bar. The Aladdin Sane, 1265 Washington Boulevard, open 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.