Author Archives: Milly

Shaker & Co, Warren Street

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Shaker & Co are the new movers and shakers on the London cocktail scene. Known previously for their expertise in the field of bar training and consultancy, the Shaker team are now venturing into running a bar while continuing the cocktail classes and school. I was intrigued to hear about the other bars advised by them: Nightjar in Shoreditch, and Bar National in Beirut which I hope to visit soon. After experiencing Shaker & Co, the salon style pub-bar near Warren Street, I can honestly say I cannot think of a nicer place to spend an evening. A large, beautifully crafted wood bar dominates the main area, with eclectic rickety furniture providing a quirky seating arrangement. Behind the bar, a remarkable old-fashioned display of bottles and books adorns the wall. Serving the very best cocktails, real ale and also offering music and food, there is nothing not to like.

Music is not to be missed at Shaker & Co with acoustic sessions every Wednesday and Red, White and Blues nights on Thursdays. We listened to the bright young singer, Roberta J Keen, a pretty waif with a set of impressive compositions. Along with her devoted guitarist, she entertained the crowd at Shaker & Co with her lilting tone and understated attitude, her voice reminded me of the very brilliant Regina Spektor.

Every month the lower floor tasting room is transformed into a themed boudoir, for April they welcome the ‘Remy Rooms’ with sultry black and red décor to evoke the class and prestige of Remy Martin cognac. A menu of six speciality cocktails all feature the Remy liquor, we tried the Remy Martin Mojito (a French twist on the Cuban classic) and Sidecar (a classic mix served in a pretty sugar frosted glass).

We tried far too many cocktails from the main list to mention them all… from our table’s selection and the ones I tried I can recommend the following:

–          The S&Co: Remy Martin VSOP Cognac, Housemade chai cider, Tamarind, Rose & Maraschino – an innovative aromatic drink served in a super cute mini shaker, which you can pay a mere £2.50 to take home.
–          Potato Sack Sour: Benedictine, Aperol, Pisco, Lemon, Egg white with Peach Bitters – an artistic and attractive cocktail, with delicate patterning decorating the top frothy layer.
–          The Dillionaire: Dill infused Tanqueray, Campari, Crème de Figue & Lemon – a refreshing and stylish drink, embellished with a striking garnish.

Cocktails cost a reasonable £7.50, with a few classics reduced during happy hour.

A brief food menu offers sustenance… we tried fresh homemade nachos with dips and crunchy deep fried okra with chilli sauce. This was ideal salty and tasty picking food, the perfect accompaniment to our cocktails.

Shaker & Co, Warren Street is full of character and charm offering creative drinks and lovely atmosphere – visit the mixology pros before everyone finds out about London’s best new cocktail bar.

Visit the website here for more information.

Hot on the Highstreet Week 101 – RING jewellers

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I need to buy a double cuff shirt to show off my new cufflinks. Last week I received a little parcel from RING jewellers, inside… a beautiful pair of customised Thoroughly Modern Milly cufflinks! The silver square accessories encase the brightly coloured photo from my website.

The RING independent bespoke jewellery shop is based in Brighton. Learning the trade in an antique jewellery establishment, expert and enthusiast Stuart Stanley started his own little shop in 2005 at 21 Meeting House Lane. RING jewellers specialise in making extra special personalised treasures, using all kinds of metals, materials and precious stones to exactly suit your needs. The designs and creations are imaginative and innovative, promising to bring your dream jewellery to life.

Cufflinks can be made with any image: a company logo, a picture of a family member or a favourite pet for a commemoration or celebration. Cufflinks cost £30 per pair or £44 for two pairs.

These trendy customised links are modern and very wearable and add a striking accent to any outfit. I can’t wait to show them off!

Visit the website here and follow on twitter @RINGjewellers

THOROUGHLY MODERN MISTER: The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art – The Sculpture Show, Edinburgh

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The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is in fact two galleries, in two beautiful neoclassical houses with a road between at the quiet western end of Edinburgh. The confidently titled Sculpture Show occupies Gallery One and the grounds until June. It is by no means a comprehensive survey; that would be too difficult – the definition of sculpture is too unstable, mobile even. Within the exhibition materials develop from the homogeneity of bronze and marble to the pluralist media of today, which could be signposts (Julian Opie’s Escaped Animals), neon (statements by Martin Creed and Mark Titchner) or the landscape itself (Charles Jenck’s Landforms). Does the commandeering of everyday methods of communication make the art more relevant or just mean there is less work for the viewer to do?

The first room one enters contains the astonishing Ron Mueck new born baby, over five metres long and super-real. Her impact is conveyed not merely by scale but also by the momentary nature of the subject: still wet and bloody from the womb, her umbilical cord cut but not yet clamped, an eye espying the world for the first time (suspiciously); the work is timeless and yet depicts a split second, and will carry on depicting that split second indefinitely. Mueck’s figures are sometimes criticised as waxwork-like but are within a tradition that is well represented in this show with Duane Hansen’s resident US tourists, a shy De Andrea nude and a coven of John Davies’s haunted men in their dusty suits.

In a new context some familiar sculpture can take on unexpected qualities – Medardo Rosso’s most famous work, the ethereal, Impressionist ‘Behold the Boy’ from 1906 alludes to human vulnerability in a way very different to the 1950s Geometry of Fear artists but no less intensely and also echoes with David Shrigley’s poignant cast of a piece of creased paper from 1997.

Elsewhere the pent-up energy of early modernism hums in bronze and stone figures by Epstein, Gill and Gaudier-Brzeska – so much power, not necessarily beauty, resides in these objects – they show up much of the flimsily conceived, room-consuming efforts of more recent artists. It is almost always true of these survey shows that as we travel through the twentieth century, the art takes up more and more space to say less and less. Roger Hiorns’ decommissioned aircraft engines stuffed with anti-depressants are perhaps an exception to this theory – they sit anxiously side by side on the lawn outside, advancing the genre of ‘found objects’ almost to breaking point.

Visit the website here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Mister, Chris Kenny.