Matt Whiley to open new bar Scout

Cocktail wizard Matt Whiley, aka The Talented Mr Fox, is to open a new bar in Shoreditch called Scout serving seasonal cocktails made with British ingredients.

As reported by Hot Dinners, Whiley will approach the bar the way a chef does a menu, working with local farmers and only using ingredients that are in season.

A revolving list of 10 cocktails will be served at the Great Eastern Street bar alongside beer brewed in house and a small selection of natural wines.

Among the cocktails on Whiley’s debut menu will be hay vermouth with burnt beetroot, horseradish, apple and herb oil; and strawberry wine with gin, lemon balm and whey.

“If it’s not in season in the UK, we won’t buy it. We have amazing produce in this country and I really want to celebrate what’s local, native and seasonal to the British Isles,” Whiley told Hot Dinners.

On the food front, expect the likes of toasted sourdough with house kohlrabi, sauerkraut and London coppa; fried vegetable skins with house seasoning; and pickled celeriac with truffle.

Like Rich Woods of Duck & Waffle and Ryan Chetiyawardana of Dandelyan, Whiley is keen to champion closed-loop cocktails and snacks that make the most of every usable part of each ingredient in order to reduce food waste.

Whiley has impressive cocktail pedigree, having worked at Purl, Worship Street Whistling Shop and Peg + Patriot, and designed the drinks lists for top restaurants including Fera at Claridge’s, Restaurant Story, Rök Smokehouse and Hoppers.

Scout will boast a 10-seat private laboratory that will serve a menu of daily changing drinks including new creations currently in development. The bar will take table bookings but will also reserve space for walk-ins.