Hot new London bars: October

The Drop

Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross is set to become London’s latest foodie hub when a slew of new restaurants and bars open in the development this week. Among the newbies will be three sites from the Harts Group – the restaurant group behind Barrafina, Quo Vadis and El Pastor – led by Sam and James Hart and Crispin Somerville.

In addition to a Barrafia site and a big sister to London Bridge taqueria El Pastor, the boys are opening a 55-seater underground wine bar called The Drop with its own oyster cart. Specialising in wines from around the world and modern British comfort food like pies and stews, The Drop’s cellar-style space takes inspiration from Victorian industrial architecture and plays on its former life as a stable.

Vermuteria

The Drop has competition in Coal Drops Yard, which will also be home to a vermouth bar backed by restaurateur and vermouth fanatic Anthony Demetre of Wild Honey, Arbutus fame. Hoping to capitalise on the growing thirst in London for the aromatised fortified wine, the bar and café, called ‘Vemuteria’, will be a casual all-day space where diners can grab their morning coffee and pastry, or something stronger when the sun sets.

Inspired by the vermuterias dotted around Barcelona, the drinks offering will include classic red, white and sweet vermouth serves and vermouth cocktails from a 50-strong vermouth list.

Genuine Liquorette

A London version of canned cocktail bar Genuine Liquorette in New York’s Little Italy has opened in a converted Victorian pub on Rathbone Place north of Oxford Street. Influenced by the New York original, which itself is inspired by the liquor stores found along the Californian coast, the first floor bar focuses on ‘cha-chucker’ craft cocktails served in cans of Pineapple Fanta, Ting and Rio Tropical with Absolut, Chivas 12 and Wray & Nephew miniatures sticking out of them.

On the ground floor you’ll find six ‘all star’ classic cocktails served on tap and guests are given the opportunity to create custom-bottled cocktails at the counter to drink on site or take away. Among the bar’s signature serves are the Salted Cocchi, made with Plymouth gin, rose salted Cocchi Americano and grapefruit bitters. On the food front, pizzas are in abundance to mop up all that alcohol.

Lady of the Grapes

Keen to shine a light on some of the world’s top women winemakers is Lady of the Grapes in Covent Garden. Located on Maiden Lane, the 29-cover bar and bistro offers 100 wines predominantly made by women, including 15 by the glass, all of which are organic, biodynamic or ‘natural’.

“When I first started in the wine industry I realised there were not a lot of women, so I want to support all women in wine from the vineyard to the shop. I want to champion women in the wine trade and make them more visible through our wine list, because it’s not just men who make wine,” says owner Carole Bryon, who launched a Crowdfunder campaign to finance the venture.

On the food front, expect nibbles like salted almonds, pickled mushrooms, duck rillettes, truffled saucisson, Comté with prune jam, roast fennel salad, honey glazed quail with apricot and seared scallops with butternut squash purée.

Chick n’ Sours Islington

Everyone’s favourite fried chicken and craft cocktail shack, Chick ‘n’ Sours has opened a third site on Islington’s buzzing Upper Street. Among the sours on pour are the Chick ‘n’ Club, which blends gin, raspberry, sugar, lemon, chilli vinegar and vermouth; and the Diablo Sour, a heady mix of Tequila, cassis, ginger, apple and citrus.

I all the frothy cocktails start going to your head, you can always mop up the alcohol with one of Chick ‘n’ Sours’ ginormous K-Pop fried chichen burgers, loaded with Asian slaw, Sriracha sour cream and gochujang mayo. We also love the sound of the chilli fish sauce caramel disco wings and a chicken twist on Chinese takeaway favourite, the prawn toast. 

Bottles

Old Spitalfields Market has a swish new wine bar with an Italian beating heart called Bottles. The relaxed and buzzy space is the brainchild of Franco Mancini and Daniele Marano, owners of Bottles & Battles in Newington.

Hoping to flag up forgotten Italian grapes, the focus at Bottles is on quality wines made by indie producers that showcase Italy’s diverse regionality and indigenous varieties. In addition to Italian drops, Bottles also serves a small selection of wines from the Old and New World, taking its total bottle count to 180.

All of the staff are trained sommeliers, so will walk you through the list with ease. Among the wines currently on offer are: Terre di Gnirega Amarone della Valpolicella 2012; Ferdinando Principiano Le Coste Nebbiolo 2016; Don Chisciotte Zampaglione Fiano 2015; and Tenute Dettori Renosu Bianco Vermentino 2016.