Paying homage to classic Italian aperitivi, Bar Termini has won titles including London's Best Bar and 2016's Best Place to Drink for its simplistic and refined approach to mixology. The luxurious bar serves coffee and cocktails, along with a small selection of small plates, on Soho's Old Compton Street.
The follow-up – to open in Marylebone – has a slightly altered stance, and will be called Bar Termini Centrale, a reference to the humble train station bars of Italy where travellers traditionally go to enjoy a list of familiar and high-quality sups while travelling.
Conigliaro is a self-taught maestro of the London cocktail scene, and relies on his senses to create the ultimate mixes. When he's in The Drinks Factory experimenting, he shuns scales and measuring jugs and uses his gut instinct. Above all, Conigliaro is most proud that his drinks are his personal creations, ones that have resonated across London.
The time-worn classics from Bar Termini will remain – the spritz termini and terroir, for instance – and they're joined by a new class of cocktails influenced by the bars Conigliaro loves most. There's an olive bellini, a bergamot negroni and the al Penguino, an alcohol-free cocktail in homage to Conigliaro's favourite bar in the Italian city of Palermo, which has been going strong since the Forties.
Are there any other reasons to eschew a visit to Bar Termini in favour of this follow-up? A much-extended food menu focuses on small plates, but will now run all day long, and a 'breakfast hatch' will open from 8am in the morning for takeaway coffee and pastries. It's a good thing that Conigliaro's business partner, Marco Arrigo, who is head of quality at Illy Coffee, is also on board for the launch.
What | Bar Termini Centrale, by Tony Conigliaro |
Where | 31 Duke Street, W1U 1LG | MAP |
When |
On 15 May 17, Bar: 8.30am - midnight (10am Sat & Sun, and open until 1am Thurs - Sat), Hatch: Open from 8am Mon - Fri, 10am Sat & Sun |
Price | ££12 - 20 per cocktail |
Website | Visit Bar Termini Centrale's website for more information |