On the whole, drinking in 2023 felt a bit unhinged. It was like waking up after a heavy night out dry-mouthed and full of self-loathing, and deciding to run a half marathon in the spirit of wellness, but not before smoking a cigarette and having a flat white. We have vices for a reason.
Last year saw a swarm of long-delayed bar and restaurant openings, and these pent-up new venues finally released themselves into the wild like a firestorm burning through a forest. It was all arguably too much, with “last week’s” new bar opening becoming old hat at record speed — even for a mercurial city like London. Still, there was so much more to be excited about than overwhelmed by: Kwãnt (Stratton Street, W1J, kwnt-mayfair.square), which closed during the pandemic soon after breaking into the top 10 on the World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2020, reopened at its new Mayfair location and seemingly picked up where it left off, except with the addition of Michelin-star-calibre bar bites. Raffles London (Whitehall, SW1A, raffles.com) finally opened at the historic OWO, and my golly is it is glorious — as are its lavish bars and restaurants. Fine wine and spirits connoisseurs have prestigious bottlings to delve into at Mauro Colagreco, while Cognac lovers can revel in the tableside Louis XIII service at The Guards Bar. And Equal Parts (Hackney Road, E2, equalpartslondon.com) of Sager + Wilde pedigree debuted and became Hackney’s neighbourhood cocktail bar of dreams, operating as a coffee shop during the day and cocktail bar with an unrivalled sound system in the evening.
There was more, plenty more, and it's set to carry into this year, too. Here’s what to expect.
Imbibe a vibe
Britney Spears had it right in 2007 when she told the world to Gimme More. The sentiment perfectly captures what many Londoners are looking for in a night out: more than just a tasty cocktail. “I think bars and restaurants are now really having to consider all elements of the business to attract new customers through the door,” says Anna Sebastian, one of London’s most highly regarded hospitality consultants. “More and more people are wanting the 360 experience from a venue, including music, vibe, food, cocktails and, of course, an excellent wine list.”
Stereo (The Piazza, WC2E, stereocoventgarden.com), a food and cocktail-focused live music venue in Covent Garden, epitomises this trend as the venue established itself as one of London’s hottest music venues last year (Offset even had his latest album preview party there last October). They aren’t the only new venue to have dialled-up the ambiance factor though. Mayfair-staple Amazonico made the leap from vibe dining to vibe drinking by launching cocktail den OCTO (Berkeley Square, W1J, amazonicorestaurant.com) in the restaurant’s basement; F1 Arcade (New Change, EC4M, f1arcade.com) opened its doors and is the one place where Londoners can legally drink and drive (virtually — there are full-motion racing simulators); Bóha (King's Road, SW6, bohalondon.com) in Chelsea juxtaposed its fashionable upstairs dining room with a subterranean nightclub fit for West London’s finest; while, more recently, Soho’s newly-opened Dram (7 Denmark Street, WC2H, drambar.co.uk) has become a hipster magnet, serving exquisite, no-frills cocktails on tap (Mezcal & Coconut gets the chef’s kiss) and offering a private pool table room to boot.
As these catch on, expect more. A sophisticated cocktail and tame ambiance is all well and good for intimate date nights and casual catch-ups but it’s not what will be selling to the masses in 2024. With venues such as BAM Karaoke Box (Victoria, SW1, bam-karaokebox.com), a Parisian-approved drinking destination with private luxury karaoke rooms, coming to London in spring 2024, and more bars set to embrace this experience-first mindset, such as CLAP (Basil Street, SW3, claprestaurant.com), a two-story Japanese restaurant concept with a rooftop bar in the heart of Knightsbridge, nights out in London this year are undoubtedly going to be giving more.
Go ga-ga for agave
Whether it’s because Londoners actually enjoy tequila, or because Kendall Jenner, Nick Jonas and the slew of other celebrities who’ve jumped on the tequila bandwagon have convinced everyone that they do, it doesn’t really make a difference. This means expect more people sipping — not shooting — tequila and mezcal in the year to come, but also don’t be surprised if lesser-known spirits such as sotol, bacanora and raicilla start to become more popular in cocktail bars and restaurants, too.
“Obviously, this trend has been a long time coming, if you look at how popular agave spirits have been in the US for decades,” says Matthias Ingelmann, group bars manager for MJMK, who operate the likes of Kol and Casa do Frango. “With drinkers being more intrigued with new and exclusive spirits, now is the time that London will start seeing more niche spirits [like mezcal, sotol, and raicilla) break through. Add the overall growing popularity of Mexican culture, food and drink to the equation, and agave spirits are absolutely positioned to thrive in 2024.”
Coinciding with the growing popularity of agave spirits in the UK, as Ingelmann hinted at, has been the boom of Mexican bars and restaurants in London. Newcomers such as Ixchel (King's Road, SW3,ixchellondon.com), Mezcalito Brompton (Old Brompton Road, SW5, mezcalitobrompton.com), Sonora Taqueria (Stoke Newington High Street, N16, sonorataqueria.com), and Viajante 87 (Notting Hill Gate, W11 viajantebar.com) have joined the likes of KOL and KOL Mezcaleria (Seymour Street, W1H, kolrestaurant.com) Cavita (Wigmore Street, W1U, cavitarestaurant.com) El Camion (Brewer St, W1F, elcamion.co.uk) Cafe Pacifico (Langley Street, WC2H, cafe-pacifico.com) Side Hustle (Bow Street, WC2E, thenomadhotel.com) and Hacha (E8 and SW9, hachabar.com) to champion the vibrant tapestry of Mexican flavours and ingredients that wordly Londoners have enthusiastically taken to. And with seasoned veteran El Pastor (across London, tacoselpastor.co.uk) opening its fourth location at Battersea Power Station in spring 2024, London looks like it’s on the cusp of its golden age of not only Mexican cuisine, but of agave spirits and cocktails as well.
A touch of theatre
Theatre sells. It’s part of the reason why Stereo serves some of its large format cocktails in a massive disco ball-shaped punch bowl — the “oohs and ahs” as it makes its way to the table are a spectacle in and of itself — why Side Hustle (Bow Street, WC2E, thenomadhotel.com) at The NoMad Hotel dispenses certain drinks in skull vessels, and (partially) why The Donovan Bar’s (Albemarle Street, W1S, roccofortehotels.com) Salvatore Calabrese made ceramic mugs of his face.
In the age of Instagram and Tik Tok, bar guests have a natural affinity for the ostentatious and extravagant and, as a result, bars and bartenders — particularly ones at fashionable cocktail bars — are beginning to compromise on minimalism and elegance for cheeky, yet occasionally technical presentations more than ever before.
“The trend towards ‘spectacularising’ cocktail service through creative vessels and showy elements and effects is undoubtedly on the rise,” says Giorgio Bargiani, assistant director of mixology at The Connaught (Carlos Place, W1K, the-connaught.co.uk). “This is not just a way for many bars and restaurants to engage with their guests, but also a way to express themselves and their concepts.”
Bargiani makes a valid point that is often overshadowed by the seeming superfluousness of theatrical cocktails — that point being how these flamboyant drinks offer moments of connection with guests, in addition to their potential for free marketing for the bar (a perk during a cost of living crisis). As consumers, especially zoomers, seek more experiential drinking opportunities that give them something more than just tasty liquid in a glass — 54 per cent of Generation Z are more likely to gravitate towards experience-driven venues, according to The Drinks Business — this year will surely see more bars approach drinks with a bit more whimsy and less furrowed brow.
Martini mania
Just when you thought the martini had done it all, it continues to reinvent itself to stay relevant as any savvy Londoner would do. Perhaps the unlikely rapid rise and unsurprising fall of the parmesan-topped Espresso Martini wasn’t the cocktail’s finest moment in 2023, but it definitely kept the iconic tipple in the mainstream conversation, while sophisticated iterations of lychee, dirty, and savoury martinis starred on drinks lists throughout the capital in the background.
“The martini is a timeless cocktail, and as such there will always be new ways to reimagine it to reflect the current trends and innovations of the mixology scene,” says Agostino Perrone, director of mixology at The Connaught. “In London in particular, this cocktail has always been a must on every menu and now arguably every bar has its own spin on it.”
Equal Parts debuted with its moreish Flor, an umami-laden martini unorthodoxly served on the rocks, which is reminiscent of a bite of fresh tomato and basil that’s been seasoned with salt, oil and garlic (who needs dinner anyway?). Mayfair newcomers Nipperkin (Berkeley Street, W1J, 20berkeley.com) and Kwãnt also opened with their exquisite takes on the classic — the former currently featuring an earthy iteration called the Forest that uses a house pine and moss distillate, and the latter offering a bracing martini that pairs with an oyster. Veteran, Dalston-based cocktail bar Three Sheets (Kingsland Road, E8, threesheets-bar.com) is set to open a second location in the heart of Soho mid-March and, if the stars align, the central London faithful might have the opportunity to taste one of the bar’s exceptional martinis (the Beetroot Martini, if we’re lucky).
As the marriage between kitchen and bar continues to flourish, leading bartenders to augment their martinis with all sorts of fats, ferments, pickles and culinary cordials, it’s difficult to predict exactly what’s next for the in 2024. Still, it’s safe to say that, based on the cocktail’s recent track record, it’ll be prominent again in the coming year — just likely in a form you’ve never seen it delivered in before.
Restaurants battle with the bars
One inspective gaze across the pond at how New Yorkers drink when they dine out — they love a mid-meal cocktail — and Londoners could have seen this one coming. It’s been a few years in the making, but the trend has finally come to a head after it was spurred on by the growing demand for a 360 dining experience, as Sebastian alluded to, in tandem with appeasing the consumption habits of Gen Z who are nine per cent more likely to order a cocktail when dining out than the average consumer.
“I think these days every detail of a restaurant matters; it’s not just the food and wine list that makes a restaurant good, it includes the bar as well,” says Sandia Chang, co-founder and sommelier at Kitchen Table (Charlotte Street, W1T, kitchentablelondon.co.uk). “The bartender is becoming more of a part of the restaurant team, very much like a chef. Cocktails are now being seen as another expression of what the restaurant is about. For instance, our restaurant has a focus on foraged ingredients and this also flows into our cocktail programme.”
Humo (St George Street, W1S, humolondon.com), which opened in March last year, recently rejuvenated its cocktail offering, working with group head of bars Angelos Bafas to develop exceptionally delicious wood and fire-laced drinks that now complement the open-fire cooking. Nuno Mendes’ Lisboeta (30 Charlotte Street, W1T 2NG, lisboeta.co.uk) has also followed suit, with group bars manager Matthias Ingelmann slowly revamping the restaurant’s beverage offering to give diners a more elevated drinking experience to pair with the Portuguese cooking.
New hot spots such as critic-approved Kolae (Park Street, SE1, kolae.com) and Llama Inn (Willow Street, EC2A, llamainnlondon.com) both debuted with cocktail menus impressive enough to lure diners for pre-dinner drinks and post-dinner nightcaps, and highly anticipated 2024 openings with a bit of pedigree, such as Jeremy King’s The Park (Bayswater Road, W2, spring 2024) and Arlington (Arlington Street, SW1A, early 2024), and Endo at The OWO (Whitehall, SW1A, raffles.com, spring 2024) can be expected to continue this trend as well.
Is it possible that restaurants have also realised that the better margins on cocktail sales allow the kitchen to be more creative with the dishes they design? Possibly. But, on the whole, regardless of the various factors at play, London’s restaurants have upped their cocktail game, refining their offerings to ensure that they’re not only on par with the cuisine quality-wise, but are distinct enough to tempt guests to skip the cocktail bar before dinner in favour of a one-stop-shop where both the food and cocktails are destination-worthy.
Take it up a level
Despite economic pressures and geopolitical uncertainty, in London premiumisation is seemingly alive and well, as people continue wanting to drink better regardless of price.
“Going through the sales reports lately, we have noticed that guests seem to appreciate more premium spirits; meaning, when given the choice between products, they tend to go for the more premium offer, even if it’s more expensive,” says Xavier Padovani, partner at Stereo. On a good Saturday night, Stereo brings in more than 1000 guests, and Padovani notes that regardless of how busy the venue gets, “people still care about what they’re drinking.”
It’s a mindset that can be expected to thrive in 2024 as well. The fresh and glitzy Guards Bar at The OWO (Whitehall, SW1A, raffles.com) will inevitably sell plenty of its plush Louis XIII and caviar pairing served tableside for both locals and tourists who are keen to splurge on a luxurious drinking experience (this will be in the thousands); and the Instagrammability of the Beaufort Bar’s (Strand, WC2R, thesavoylondon.com) caviar pairing — this one delivered as a bump of caviar licked off your fist and chased with an icy Martini — will surely tempt any bon vivant. With the soon-to-open Mandarin Oriental Mayfair’s ABar Rooftop (Hanover Square, W1S, mandarinoriental.com) also making its timely debut in the summer, and other independent ventures bound to follow, it’s clear there’s still scope for the lavish in London. Let’s face it, we all like to spend our money on nice things when presented with the opportunity.
