Hot on the heels of Soho’s highly anticipated Swift bar, Disrepute opens at 4 Kingly Court in Soho tomorrow and is the work of another bartending dream team. Chris Dennis and Joe St Clair-Ford worked in partnership at Brixton’s popular Sovereign Loss bar (which closed this summer after The Prince of Wales pub reclaimed the space), while Ferdie Ahmed and Ani Kyriacou are behind the Barrio bar group. This new collaboration is a 100-seater basement bar, predominantly catering to members and inspired by Carnaby Street’s 1960s heyday, but don’t expect a Day-Glo flower-power theme bar. We caught up with Chris on the phone to find out more…
Left to right: Joe St Clair-Ford, Ani Kyriacou, Chris Dennis and Ferdie Ahmed
What led you to this location in Soho?
There were some projects on the table, some of which were shelved, but ultimately this presented itself as a unique chance to put a stamp on Soho.
What led to the 1960s theme?
It was about taking the venue back to its golden period, back when the Carnaby area was at its most exciting and unique. At the time this address was Pinstripe Club, the last of the gentlemen’s clubs, while a generation of optimism was finding its feet, so Disrepute is about going back to that period.
Can you tell us more about the drinks?
There are two elements to the cocktail menu at Disrepute. Some of the drinks are styled more classically, which is our homage to the end of the establishment, of members’ clubs as they were back then. Other serves will be more forward-looking. All of them are based around spirits and other ingredients that were popular in the 1960s.
We have a long wine list too, much stronger than you might expect in a cocktail bar, which is another nod to that era. There will be vintages and English sparkling wines, for example.
Could you talk us through one of the cocktails?
We chose Cognac as the base for The Juvenescent (above) because brandy was so popular at the time. It’s a beautiful serve which also includes Chilean pisco and a Babycham reduction, optimised to bring out the ingredients, then topped up with English sparkling wine.
How about the design of the bar?
It’s a massive build and everything is in keeping with the concept, so there are many lavish, luxurious elements – there’s lots of brass. There are also a few cheeky nods to the younger generation of the 60s (but it’s not in-your-face Austin Powers). One of the things that we’ve been pushing from the start is that there’ll always be something to discover, so a lot of the design elements aren’t immediately obvious; they’ll become apparent as you experience the venue. In general, the vision is a classical Soho members’ club.
The Profumo affair was happening in and around where this venue was at the time, so it was all about dark corners… We’re remaining quite close-lipped, as we want people to discover it on their own terms.
What can visitors expect from the food?
The food menu follows the theme again, but it’s more tongue-in-cheek than the cocktails. We’re working on dishes from the era, built in a contemporary way.
Are there any elements that Sovereign Loss fans can look forward to?
Sovereign Loss was a wonderful project but this is very different project. We want the liquids to do the talking, without any fancy dress up. It’ll have the same service and sensibility as Sovereign Loss, to make your drinking experience as good as possible, but it will be relaxed and more high-end than Sovereign Loss.
Find out more about Disrepute here, and for more on Swift, click here
This article was published 15 December 2016