Swift’s success has been, well, for want of a better word – extremely fast.
After opening in Soho a couple of years ago, the Art Deco temple wowed the critics, immediately snapped up a spot on the World’s 50 Best list (41 currently), and has now brazenly opened a second branch during a global pandemic. Now that’s confidence.
And it’s a confidence that’s largely justified. After all, the owners are two of the biggest power-couples in the cocktail world (Nightjar founders Edmund Weil & Rosie Stimpson, and Milk & Honey’s Mia Johansson & Bobby Hiddleston) and they’ve all brought their respectively elegant, refined, decadent, and highly skilled sides to the table.
Speaking of furnishings, everything here follows the same winning recipe that they shook together for the Soho branch – laid back, simple 1930s elegance with an Italian accent. It wears a black and white uniform of marble and wood, with dashes of bronze rounding it all out, and snappily dressed barkeeps who might as well be walking cocktail encyclopaedias.
On the drinks menu, you’ll find mixed numbers ranging from a classic Sgroppino (lemon sorbet & prosecco mixed with a little Italics herbal liqueur), to a house-original Jaquard, which inventively blends rye whisky with pomegranate, hibiscus, and absinthe. They’re bringing their Irish Coffee to the mix too, made famous at NYC’s Dead Rabbit where co-founder Bobby Hiddleston tended bar, and helped the place to win almost every award a bar can win.
If you’re looking for a little ballast to round out those drinks, you’ll be happy to know that they’re serving an all-day menu of brunch-style dishes; toasties that sandwich Neal’s Yard cheese between St.John sourdough, some waffles topped with mascarpone & Sauternes-soaked peaches, and more.
And it’s worth pointing out that the only real upside of opening during a pandemic is that they can subtly build the social distancing measures into the venue itself, meaning that you might not even notice you’re safely ensconced from your fellow punters. But like everywhere else, you’ll still need to book…
…even if you fancy a Swift drink.
NOTE: Swift Shoreditch is open now. You can find out more, and make a booking at their website right HERE.
Swift Shoreditch | 93 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HZ
There’s a lot more where that came from… check out our guide to great bars in Shoreditch.