db Interview: The Talented Mr Fox

Taking up residence at the Town Hall Hotel this month is Matt Whiley, better known as The Talented Mr Fox, who has a penchant for off-the-wall ingredients. After a seven-year stint as a professional cricketer, Whiley sidestepped into drinks.

Having started a pop-up at One Leicester Street in Leicester Square offering crazy concoctions like a Bloody Mary made with pig’s blood and the Bone Shaker, featuring Bourbon, clarified buttermilk and smoked bone marrow, his residency at the tiny hotel bar proved so popular that he’s made a permanent home there. In addition, Whiley will be setting up shop in Bethnal Green, having jumped on the site of the former Viajante bar.

Christened Peg + Patriot in honour of its setting in Patriot Square and the old English word for a shot of liquor, libations at Mr Fox’s new baby will be equally as wacky as One Leicester Street, with the Marmite Martini and Salt Beef Sazerac headlining, the former made using a Marmite distillate and the latter with bagels from a nearby shop in Hackney.

Salt Beef Sazerac

“My wife’s family used to run a Jewish deli on Brick Lane, so I’ve wanted to make a salt beef-based cocktail for ages and Peg + Patriot seemed like the right place to do it,” Whiley says, adding, “Throwing the bagel, mustard and pickles into the mix gives the drink so much more depth.”

The Sazerac will be served with a mustard sachet pegged to the side of the glass filled with a black mustard leaf distillate that customers can add to the cocktail like they would bitters.

As for the Marmite Martini, with a Konik’s Tail vodka base, Whiley believes people will be pleasantly surprised by it. “It’s more delicate than you’d imagine.

The yeasty character really comes through, but we add dashes of lemon and absinthe with an atomiser to balance it out,” he says, admitting that, like Marmite, people will either love it or hate it.

Competing for attention alongside the Marmite Martini and Salt Beef Sazerac will be the Pho Money Pho Problems, a bonkers take on a classic Vietnamese beef soup dish inspired by the South East Asian restaurants populating neighbouring Kingsland Road. “There isn’t actually any meat in the cocktail – we make the Pho base spirit using Vietnamese spices, pak choi and lime leaves,” Whiley assures.

The Rice Rice Baby meanwhile, blends rice ice cream liqueur and sparkling wine. “I initially tried out the recipe with frozen yoghurt but it didn’t work. I wanted to do an Ice Cream Bellini and the roast rice in the liqueur really adds to the creaminess of the spirit,” Whiley enthuses.

The Town Hall Hotel in Patriot square, after which the bar takes its name

Rather than offering a dizzying array of drinks, part of the Mr Fox philosophy is to keep things simple, with no more than 10 cocktails on offer at P+P. “We keep things fresh by constantly evolving the menu, adding new creations and taking older ones away. Being offered a Bible-sized menu at a bar is intimidating,” Whiley explains, adding, “I want us to be a fun and friendly neighbourhood bar with a relaxed vibe. It’s important not to take yourself too seriously. Don’t get me wrong, we’re very serious about what we do but we don’t want to blind consumers with the science.”

In keeping with the low-key vibe, interiors at Peg + Patriot are industrial and stripped back, with squirrel bulbs and grey walls abounding. “When I came on board, I was urged to take the interiors in a decadent direction but that’s not what I had in mind for the bar. We’re in East London, so I think it’s important to reflect the area’s gritty roots,” says Whiley. The soundtrack therefore, will be hip-hop heavy.

Marmite Martini

Another non negotiable was a back bar stocked with spirits made by small producers, as Whiley is keen to shine a light on the underdogs of the industry. “It would have been easy to go for a golden handshake with one of the big two, but they want a huge amount of exposure in return.

I’ve just started up my own boutique spirits company so can empathise with small producers. I know what it’s like to compete in the market and wanted to give lesser known names some much deserved airtime,” he says. Gin therefore, comes from local distiller Dodd’s, while whisky hails from Compass Box.

To compliment the quirky cocktails, bar snacks devised by Westcott will be equally playful, with a gourmet take on the chicken drumstick in the pipeline, along with crispy cod skins and Ibérico pork and foie gras sliders. There’s even talk of smoked mackerel served in a tin. Bills meanwhile, will be presented on pegs.

Aiming to use homemade ingredients wherever possible, Whiley will redistill three different kinds of gin on site, including Dog’s Nose, a hop gin, and Lisle Street, a jasmine and currant gin inspired by the flavours of Chinatown. In addition, vodka, liqueurs and vermouths will be produced, though the latter is proving tricky to master. “There’s a good reason why there are only a handful of vermouths on the market because it’s bloody difficult to make,” admits Whiley.

He is however delighted with a cola-flavoured vermouth he recently created, which will feature in a number of the cocktails at the bar. Keen to make cocktails with foraged ingredients, Whiley also wants to start making his own salts.

“London has an amazing culture for craft ale and artisan coffee now and customers can enjoy both mere metres from where they were made,” Whiley says, adding, “I want it to be the same at Peg + Patriot – for people to be able to see our distiller in action and witness first hand where the magic happens.”