We’re assuming that the last time you had a drink with a lioness in a red top hat who prefers to be addressed as Leonora…was probably never.
But the last place that happened was probably Last Tuesday.
Confused? Allow us to explain.
The Last Tuesday Society is a cocktail bar-cum-curiosity museum founded by eclectic dandy ‘pataphysicist, Viktor Wynd. A magpie for the freakish, macabre and wonderful, he’s filled the candlelit rooms with cherished finds ranging from skulls and taxidermied animals to fine art, pinned up on the dark-lacquered walls and, in the case of Leonora, even sharing your velveteen banquette.
With a formidable cocktail menu inspired by the bar’s decor, this is the kind of place where a fly in your drink is probably intentional. The list is seductively dark and dangerous-sounding, with concoctions like the the Alchemist #88, a mix of scotch, mezcal lemon, allspice bitters and fig jam, and garnished with a North American Coyote claw (to keep, not eat); or the Scorps Reviver, a gin-absinthe combination, shaken with white vermouth, lemon and cointreau, and garnished with an edible scorpion tail. But if you’re really keen to bug out, you’ll be glad to hear that their bar snacks include a tasting platter of insects.
Once your cocktail is safely in hand, you’ll make your way downstairs to explore Wynd’s Museum of Curiosities, with crammed shelves and cabinets overflowing with the mysterious and the shocking; skeletons and scientific abnormalities, erotica and ‘celebrity waste’, shrunken heads and exotic souvenirs. The showpiece of the museum is the Sarcophagus, a coffin-shaped table with a skeletal centrepiece and a mummified mermaid overhead, around which the society hosts storytelling evenings, lectures and literary discussions, seances, absinthe tastings, tarot readings, horror screenings, petting zoos and taxidermy lessons (last two not connected).
Interest piqued?
We’ll see you last Tuesday.
NOTE: The Last Tuesday Society is open Tuesday-Sunday. Entry to the bar is free, but there is a £10 admission fee if you would like to visit the museum (or £6 with a bar reservation) – find out more on the Last Tuesday Society website.
The Last Tuesday Society | 11 Mare Street, E8 4RP
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