This week I’m joined by Nick Strangeway, one of the most influential British bartenders of the modern era. With almost 40 years in and around the London drinks scene, Nick has tended bar at legendary spots like Fred’s Club, The Atlantic Bar & Grill, and Che, designed drinks programmes for Hawksmoor, Hix, and The Groucho Club, and consulted for venues worldwide. He’s also ventured into spirits production — from creating flavoured vodkas with Absolut under the Absolut Craft label, to co-founding Hepple Gin and Second Sip, a low-ABV gin.
Nick’s career is deeply intertwined with the late, great Dick Bradsell. They worked together on and off for over a decade, and much of the first part of our conversation explores Soho’s 1980s and 1990s bar scene — the people, brands, drinks, and wild stories that defined the era.
We go on to cover everything from the art of serving a martini, creativity in bartending, the brilliance of batching, the gentrification of London, Simon Difford and Class magazine, taking inspiration from the kitchen, the beauty of punch, the problem with bars you can’t sit at, fighting customers, and Nick’s latest venture — a new basement bar beneath a jeweller in Burlington Arcade, which opened just last week.
If you’re not yet subscribed, now’s the time. Next week, I’ll be speaking with perhaps the greatest living whisky writer, followed by a two-week trip across Mexico and the USA to record with some true heavyweights of the food and drink world. Don’t miss out — it’s free.
00:00 Introduction
02:42 Frozen Glasses, Martinis, Champagne, Specifications, Vermouth
06:59 Nick’s Entry into Bars - The Allure of Bars, Fred’s Club
11:42 Working with Dick Bradsell - Bramble, Vodka Espresso
15:42 The Changing Nature of London - 1980’s to 2020’s - Drinking Dens in Soho, Gentrification, Community, Class
24:12 Modern Bartending: Influencers, Competence, Creativity, Hospitality, Bar as a Barrier
34:22 Working at Che - The Customer Perspective, Fighting in Bars, Dick Bradsell Vaulting Over the Bar
39:57 Following Dick Bradsell to Atlantic Bar & Grill, Detroit, The Flamingo, Dick Bradsell’s Approach to Hospitality & The Scene
53:19 Creating Cocktails - Modifying Classics, Simon Difford - Class Magazine, Sauce Guides
59:22 American Cocktails vs. UK, Punches
1:04:22 Shifting to Restaurant Bars - Challenges, Chef Approach to Drinks, Batching Cocktails, Theatre, Bars that You Can’t Sit At
1:24:42 The Origins of Hawksmoor - The Benefits of No Uniform, Building a Great Team, Obsession, Eating Pencils, Jonathan Downey & the Smoking Ban
1:43:21 Developing spirits for Absolut
1:48:57 The Birth of Hepple Gin - Valentine Warner, Walter Riddel, Northumbria, Wild Juniper, Technology - Super Critical CO2 Extraction
2:00:37 Second Sip Low ABV Gin - Development, Leo Robitschek, Overcoming Technical Challenges - Texture, Louche
2:11:02 No Regrets Bar - Designing a New Bar Concept for Mayfair, Curating Clientele
2:18:12 Other Projects - Richard Corrigan, Valentine Warner & Wild Kitchen
Episode sponsored by Fever-Tree
The Curious Bartender Podcast 