Hawksmoor Spitalfields to open basement bar

Situated in the basement under the main restaurant, the new bar will offer ‘a more glamorous feel’ to anything else in the restaurant operator’s portfolio, which includes Hawksmoor Seven Dials  and Hawksmoor Guildhall.

“We’ve really enjoyed doing this,” said Huw Gott director of Hawksmoor’s owners The Underdog Group with business partner Will Beckett.

“Spitalfields has always meant a massive amount to us - it was the first Hawksmoor and has always had an amazing atmosphere that made up for the fact that it was done relatively cheaply.”

The bar’s interior features a polished brass wall made from lift doors dating back to the 1920s, Victorian glazed bricks and dark wood table tops made from old chemistry lab tops. It also includes three alcoves, which seat up to nine people.

New dishes and cocktails

“We took over the lease on the dodgy strip club below Spitalfields a while ago,” continued Gott. “Since then, it’s primarily been used to store the fruits of my compulsive auction house and eBay addiction.

“Turning it into a bar has been lots of fun; it’s allowed us to do something quite different with the design and has let everyone at Hawksmoor be creative with new dishes and cocktails, which is what we all really love doing.”

The food menu will feature a compilation of sandwiches and dishes including Hot Dog and Chilli Cheese Dog, Shortrib French Dip and the Lobster Roll.

The short drinks list will feature five monthly changing Desert Island Drinks - personal favourites chosen by various Hawksmoor bartenders.

A selection of five non-changers completes the cocktail list: Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew, Marmalade Cocktail, Nuclear Banana Daiquiri, Tobacco Old Fashioned and Green and Red Margarita. Hawksmoor’s wine and beer lists will also be available alongside the cocktails.

Smartening up

Macaulay Sinclair, interior architects responsible for the Hawksmoor Seven Dials and Guildhall interiors, have again been at the helm for the design. The upstairs Hawksmoor Spitalfields restaurant has also had a ‘a general smartening up’.

Davide Segat will manage the new bar while the upstairs restaurant is managed by Zoe Paskin.

Hawksmoor Seven Dials, which opened in 2010, placed 18th in the National Restaurant Awards 2011 , also picking up the Restaurateurs Choice Award.