Photo by Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/Getty Images

The American Bar in London’s Savoy Hotel is hard to get in to on a Monday at 5pm. This might be the only bar in the capital that is hard to get in to on a Monday at 5pm – bucking a nightlife trend that’s been driven by, in no particular order: puritanical youngsters who don’t drink; an exploded pipeline (2023) somewhere in the North Sea; misadventures in Iran (2026); and, I dunno, George Osborne? Am I contractually obliged to say that?

Never mind. My haggling with the maître d’ (or “hostess” if you’re American and still buy Playboy ) for a two-top is welcome: in these dark times, there is still a bit of seedy fun to be had out there. The bar, which opened in 1893, has seen many famous patrons cross its threshold: Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Silver Spoon. But more than anyone, Ernest Hemingway’s pickled ghost haunts the floor – conspicuous with a Martini in hand, 15 parts gin to one part vermouth.…