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Going Out | Pubs, Bars and Nightlife
Ben McCormack On the Sauce at Twice Shy: Handsome waiters who remember your name? Of course I love it
Remember Cheers? “You want to go where everybody knows your name” went the theme. The syrupy lyrics speak of an eternal truth of what we want from a pub or bar: somewhere with a welcome — whether that’s our own tankard, a cheery query of “your usual?” when we take a seat, or simply being recognised as a regular.
Stay for even just one drink at this new cocktail specialist and not only will you be greeted like a long-lost friend on your next visit, but you’ll be on first-name terms with the quartet of bartenders and, most likely, the 30 other punters filling out the narrow space, too.
Twice Shy — the name feels wildly inappropriate given the genuine warmth of the welcome — is found down a passageway opposite Earl’s Court tube called Hogarth Place. The address might conjure images of Gin Lane-like debauchery but the bar promotes a more considered approach to drinking, not least because it comes with a vintage pedigree. Owner Elon Soddu, the former head mixologist of The Savoy, opened Amaro in Kensington just over two years ago, and he’s repeated the successful formula of sophisticated drinks made by suave (read: handsome) bartenders here, only priced a couple of quid cheaper.
The nine in-house creations are named after the two main ingredients in each; this makes it immediately easy to tell if they’re going to float your boat, but harder to imagine them entering the cocktail lexicon long term (Mint and Peat doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily as Shaky Pete). A shame, because a couple of the drinks here already deserve classic status.
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Rum and Sultana is made by blending Havana Club 7 Year Old with sultanas in a Thermomix before resting for 12 hours to separate the solids from the liquid; the end result, mixed with Pedro Ximénez sherry and Campari, reveals its notes of leather and tobacco, like a slowly unfurled cigar pouch. Nougat and Vodka is the ultimate glass of eggnog, with honey and egg whites whipped together in the Thermomix before being dissolved in vodka and shaken with amaretto and lemon juice.
But Twice Shy isn’t so self-conscious that it won’t knock out the crowd pleasers. Its Cosmopolitan is candy-pink perfection. An Aviation is even better, less of a strident Parma Violet on the flavour spectrum and more like a silky Charbonnel et Walker fondant cream. Once bitten, twice shy? Hardly. This is a bar to sink one’s teeth into.
Cocktails from £12.50, 14 Hogarth Place, SW5 0QT, twiceshy.co.uk