Despite the name, You Call The Shots is not a bar for control freaks.
It’s the kind of place where you can pop in for a quick tipple, and find yourself hours later in the deliciously fuzzy thrall of several first-class drinks, and knee-deep in some of the best bar food you’ve had in a very long time.
This is the new venture from founders Emma Piggott & Jonathan Mercer, who already have a great track record with The Plough in Homerton and The Prince Arthur in London Fields, both of which treat their food & drink with refreshing reverence. They’ve actually already road-tested the concept for You Call The Shots at The Plough over the summer, so it’s unsurprising that it’s doing so well right out of the gate.
So what is the concept? Well, bringing us back to that name, the idea is to invite in a regularly changing line-up of guest chefs to let loose on the pans and rustle up whatever food they’d like to have with a drink themselves. They literally do call the shots, as it were. Making this another potentially excellent incubator for culinary talent.
The space itself is in Hackney, right opposite Moth Club and just down the road from both Big Night and Dalla. Step inside, and you’ll find a small-ish space filled with old school wooden furnishings. It’s simple, it’s unpretentious, and there’s a a touch of vintage glamour thanks to the mirrored feature wall, and the disco light that dangles in front of it.
On the laminated menu you’ll find a reassuringly concise line-up of wines (courtesy of Noble Rot’s Isobel McFadden) and cocktails – the acid green Japanese Slipper (midori, cointreau) and the mezcal-kissed Smoking Tommy’s Margarita are both particularly nice.
Now, the food menu. After an opening stint from Joe Couldridge, it’s the turn of Bing Bong Pizza, headed up by the YCTS owners themselves and head chef Rich Goodwin (who used to do the pizza at the excellent Mike’s in Peckham). They’ll be in action here until the end of November, serving hefty NYC slices of classics like The Pepperoni, and house signatures like The Sausage (with mozzarella, Godfreys sausages, Mike’s pickled peppers, sliced potato & crispy kale), all washed down with Lambrusco.
Oh, and to briefly come back to the name – it’s actually inspired by lyrics from John Cooper Clarke’s I Wanna Be Yours, which plays on loop in the loo. So, if you do need to go…
…you’ll be flush with inspiration.
NOTE: You Call The Shots is open now. Walk-ins only. You can find out more on their instagram.
You Call The Shots | 13 Morning Lane, E9 6ND
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