bringing drinks to life

There are a handful of bars that have become truly iconic and have stood the test of time; Milk & Honey in New York springs to mind, Lonsdale for many years, but go into any quality cocktail bar almost anywhere in the world and mention LAB bar in London’s Soho and bartenders know exactly where you’re talking about.

For those of you who are scratching your heads and saying, ‘LAB? never heard of it!’ it’s about time you crawled out from under your rock and had a look around. LAB has been at the sharp end of the bar scene in the UK for over a decade and while it’s had it’s ups and downs it’s never really fallen from grace. Right now LAB feels as though it is on an up-swing again, so I’m readily anticipating many more years of greatness from them.

You see LAB was created as a proving ground for bartenders, a place where good bartenders went to become great bartenders. The name stands for ‘London Academy of Bartenders’ so you get the idea… Some of the leading lights of the bar world learnt their trade here and the list of ‘star-tenders’ who can trace their roots back to this bar is long and legendary. The fact that half of them have gone on to become brand ambassadors and are now leading the life of luxury shouldn’t put you off drinking here though, as each in turn earned their reputations by putting in the hours perfecting their craft. LAB has always been a place bartenders work to take that step beyond just making drinks; to learn the craft of tending bar.

That’s all well and good, but after over a decade of being at the top of the trade, things can change. I mean LAB is no longer the funkiest looking bar as design trends have moved on and the sound system isn’t the state-of-the-art affair you might find elsewhere. The bar itself has more than a few war wounds and some would say that it could do with a few coats of varnish, but to me and many others those things are immaterial and don’t stand in the way of LAB being the special place that it most certainly still is!

It’s the people who make it great. Not just the bartenders of course, although they’re still very good, but the crowd on the other side of the bar too. Of course it attracts a lot of industry types, in fact I can’t remember the last time I was there and didn’t see half a dozen familiar faces, but that simply means that there are a lot of critics and cocktail lovers that the guys behind the bar have to please! The regular customers can be pretty demanding too; many have been coming here for years or are new customers, compelled by a strong recommendation, so they have high expectations and they want every drink to be the best they have ever had and that’s just what the guys and girls at LAB still aspire to make them.

The reason I am bleating on about LAB is that they’re just getting ready to launch their new menu, and having grabbed a sneak preview I couldn’t help but think that the good times are still rolling here. The menu itself is beautifully designed and is (as always) packed full of tempting beverages, but for me it’s the pictures decorating every page that got me thinking. Pictures of good times and good friends and more industry legends than you can shake a cocktail stick at; people who have made me what Dave would have called ‘life changing drinks’.

After my first look at the menu I realised I had forgotten to look at the drinks because I had been so busy wandering down memory lane. Pictures of a younger (and slimmer) John Gakuru, Gregor with his cheeky grin, Dave’s ‘Top Gun’ leaving do and a very young looking Tim Stones, not to mention Andrea sporting a pink wig, Jack in a feather boa and countless other familiar grins goofing off and having fun. It made me realise that I have spent a lot of years visiting that bar and have made a lot of good friends there.

So when you’re next in Soho stop in and let Ali and the current LAB crew show you that they still have more than a little of the old LAB magic left.  But before you go, here’s a teaser of what you’ll find on the menu; just three of over 100+ drinks on the new list. Personally I’m raising an ice-cold Jager to good times past and good times still to come!

JACK BAUER SOUR - Victor - new school

• 37.5 ml Beefeater 24
• 12.5 ml Yellow Chatreuse
• 12.5 ml Suze
• 25 ml lemon juice
• 2 barspoons green tea syrup
• 1 egg white

 Shake hard with plenty of cubed ice and strain into a highball glass filled with cubed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a lemon twist.

MUCHAS CARACAS - Stuart Fritz - current assistant head master

•  40 ml Santa Teresa Selecto
• 15 ml Plymouth sloe gin
• 10 ml apricot liqueur
• 1 barspoon of maple syrup
• juice from 2 lime wedges

Muddle the apricots and add remaining ingredients and cubed or cracked ice. Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with apricots on a skewer.

FEIJOA FLIP - Tim Stones - ex-pupil

•  37.5 ml 42 Below Feijoa
• 12.5 ml vanilla schnapps
• 15 ml lemon juice
• 2 barspoons of vanilla sugar
• 1 egg yolk

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass or flip glass and finish if with a grating of nutmeg.