In the early twenty-tens, change was afoot in the London bar scene. A certain kind of place seemed to be emerging, drawing huge crowds, and bartenders who were once the reserve of five-star hotels began to set up shop in small, sometimes damp basements which neither landlords nor restaurateurs had much use for. A new generation of subterranean hangouts were born.
Underground bars and the wider category of speakeasies represented a return to a kind of acceptable debauchery which had been forgotten in the frugality of the credit crunch years.
It took London bartenders like Alastair Burgess, Erik Lorincz and Sasha Petraske to develop a few global influences, like the clarity of ingredients from the bars of Japan and the more playful NYC cocktail spaces which were hotbeds of fun and colour. These influences combined in London with exceptional results.
Before that, though, the seed was quietly planted in Soho in 2002, when New York’s Milk and Honey came to London. “Sasha Petraske was arguably the most influential cocktail maker of this era. After him, it was all taken a little more seriously,” says bar consultant and writer Tyler Zielinski.
The influence of that now-closed Soho favourite can still be felt, both here and abroad.
“Jack McGary from Dead Rabbit in New York, Bobby Hiddleston from Bar Swift and Kevin Armstrong from Satan’s Whiskers are all hugely influential, and they all cut their teeth at Milk and Honey. It was ground zero in that sense,” says Zielinski.
As Milk and Honey worked on taking bars out of hotels and raising standards in the industry, higher calibre, subterranean drinking dens began to emerge. “After ‘08, 69 Colebrooke Row, aka ‘the bar with no name’ opened, and in 2010 came the basement joint Happiness Forgets. These two preceded a huge boom in those types of bars with the likes of Nightjar, Mr Fogg’s — which did a great job at speaking to the wider consumer — and Oriole all opening later. These bars really set the trend of that decade.”
Everything was on the up. Apart from the physical spaces; these went down into the basement. They were naughty, sultry and discreet.
“The allure of subterranean bars lies in the fact they’re sexy. The good ones all have these little nooks for date nights and gatherings, for getting up to no good,” laughs Zielinski. “This is helped on by the fact there usually isn’t natural light, so you never know what time of day it is, which allows you to truly escape into the bar. Compared to a space which is on the ground level, where you have to manage and balance natural light coming through, there’s a bit of escapism with subterranean bars. You don’t always know exactly where you are, meaning you (as the guest) get to create the place where you’re going to be”
Below are some of our newer favourites, but as for honourable mentions, Soma (Denman Street, W1D, somasoho.com) and Kol Mezcaleria (Seymour Street, W1H, kolrestaurant.com) rightly deserve some recognition, as does Happiness Forgets (Hoxton Square, N1, happinessforgets.com), an all-time favourite and pioneer of the genre in London.
Below Stone Nest
A bar from the Boxer brothers (Jackson and Frank), this crypt-like spot awaits its guests under the performance venue of Stone Nest, housed in a converted chapel but full of original features. It’s a one-of-a-kind venue and a one-of-a-kind bar: most below ground drinking dens are Izakaya-small, whereas this industrial, gritty vault can accommodate far more. Not least some stellar parties full of salacious drinks. Go here and snog someone.
136 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5EZ, belowsoho.london
Seed Library
Ryan Chetiwardena’s second bar needn’t feel like an understudy to Lyaness. If anything, the subterranean location makes it the better bar as the low-lit, carefully designed space sits in a deeply sexy hue, making it ideal for dates, for gatherings, for drinking your fair share. As ever with Mr Lyan, the intentional flavour combinations are as beguiling as they are unexpected. Try the greenhouse highball, a mix of Scotch, tomato, cricket garum (yes, bugs), apricot and bubbles.
100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ, seedlibraryshoreditch.com
Bar Lina
Lina Stores, the ever popular pasta provider, isn’t the business one might have pipped to open one of Soho’s more interesting bars of the past two years, but so they did. “A dark and sexy bar is the order of the day here” said David Ellis at the time of opening and Lina has since stood the test of time, at least by London’s standards (it turns one this month). Political leaders have ensured an increase in prices since those opening rates, but most drinks still come in under £15 a pop.
18 Brewer Street, W1F 0SG, barlina.co.uk
Scales
Drinks with Sasha is a buzzy little bottle shop in Marylebone where one can pick up a range of lesser-seen bottles from a range of drinks categories, specialising predominantly in the agave-based spirits of mezcal and tequila, with multiple reposado and añejo variations available. All this is to say the subterranean bar below feels like an extra well-kept secret, with a menu that coalesces around seasonal ingredients including the “apple” (made with shiso leaf, bergamot, vodka and green apple) and clementine (with tequila, lemongrass and grapefruit).
25 Duke Street, W1U 1DJ, scalesbar.com
Bar Kinky
Under Kinkally, the appealing Georgian restaurant found on Charlotte Street, Bar Kinky features the very best qualities of the new generation of London subterranean bars. It’s low-lit, it’s both industrial and chic yet cosseting, it encourages discovery with a menu full of ferments and textural delights, as well as exemplary classics. Summed up flawlessly by our own Josh Barrie, the bar is “sultry”: it looks down and leans in before its siren eyes call you in for more.
43 Charlotte Street, W1T 1RS, kinkally.co.uk
