We have to start with some familiar favourites that have always formed the backbone of Cocktails in the City. Café Pacifico Consistently the busiest bar at CitC. I believe it is the sincerity of their passion and love for agave which starts with the owner Carlos Londono and which carries through every member of the team that you meet. They always make you feel welcome, they understand the value of putting on a show and giving the customer that little bit more to make sure they’ve had a great time. If you love agave you have to visit Café Pacifico during London Cocktail Week.
Georgi Radev the owner and ambassador of Laki Kane does for tiki what Carlos does for agave. A big personality with drinks that always take the awards from the judges and our visitors. Georgi shows us year on year that tiki doesn’t just mean rum, it means tasty drinks delivered with flair and personality and you get all this and more at this tropical tiki haven in Angel, Islington.
Laki Kane, Islington
The Parlour at Zetter Townhouse
If Café Pacifico and Laki Kane attribute some of their success to big personalities behind the bars at CitC I think it’s fair to say that it is the elegance and finesse of the drinks that Anas El Bahhaj brings to the drinks program at Zetter Townhouse. Each year they have partnered with a variety of great brands, gins, rums and tequilas and the drinks are always delicate, sophisticated and delivered with style. I love the interiors of their venues in London whether it is afternoons or evening times.
The team at Hutong know how to incorporate authentic flavours inspired by their Chinese cuisine into a great selection of contemporary cocktails that always look and taste great. The views in the bar are amazing and the drinks list including its organisation and structure always makes interesting reading whilst enjoying it’s elevated location in the Shard.
Shanghai Bar at Hutong, London Bridge
It was special for us to welcome Bar Americain this year as it is a venue I have loved since opening, the drinks programming is classy, stylish and delicious and the venue feels like a true hidden gem located just a few yards from Piccadilly Circus station but buried in the beautiful design of Brasserie Zedel. Working with Renais Spirits they had ice cold martinis and their My Dear Watson was one of the drinks of the summer.
Almost our home away from home when putting on Cocktails in the City over the summer the décor of The Coral Room in the Bloomsbury Hotel never fails to impress me. Giovanni is the ultimate host who probably knows 90% of his customers by name and the bar team always look great in their white sleeved jackets and really do bring a bit of pizzazz and joie de vivre to your day whether your popping in for coffee, afternoon tea or cocktails.
The Coral Room, Bloomsbury
Okay they are different bars with a very different look and feel but I love working with the Breakfast Group and watching them operate. They keep good people for a long time and take the opportunities when presented to them. I always find the staff friendly and welcoming and they work closely with their suppliers to the benefit of everyone involved.
I haven’t worked with Gaucho group for a few years but they were invited by Axia Mastiha who I’ve worked well with over the years and they smashed it in September. The bar team were great fun, their Chimi Margarita was one of the biggest sellers and it makes me happy to see guests of the event enjoying more esoteric spirits, similar to the success of Fenjiu Baijiu with Park Chinois. It is great to see a bigger company like Gaucho involved at Cocktails in the City as thousands of people enjoy their drinks every week and they are taking their cocktail program really seriously and working with a lot of more climate positive, b-corp brands in their supply chain.
I’ve picked this as my last venue because they were great fun to work with this year. The venue itself is such an iconic establishment situated right in the thick of Mayfair and probably wouldn’t be thought about as a cocktail destination in the same way as other venues such as Callooh Callay that I was tempted to highlight. You might think such an establishment might take itself too seriously or think these cocktail festivals aren’t there crowd but it’s a beautiful space, a good drinks list and a great space for people watching from the afternoon into the evening.
Cocktails in the City features pop-up bars all in one place serving drinks from award-winning venues and will be returning in Summer 2025. For more information visit their website https://cocktailsinthecity.com/.
