Originally published on Tuesday, 26th January 2010

A Local Place For Local People

Dick Bradsell heads up Soho’s newest late-night cocktail bar beneath El Camino

I have a dream, my brothers and sisters. A dream in which we have a place to drink and dance into the wee hours of the morning without recourse to hammered out-of-towners, shoddy cocktails or exorbitant membership fees.

I dream of a place where such revelry can take place on the paved plains of Soho, not just the distant hills of Dalston. But where a W1 postcode need not equate to pretentious tw*ttery.

The new El Camino (sister to the one in Portobello rather than the King’s Cross Camino) may not be exactly a dream. There are the sub-miniature guacamole bowls to save it from perfection, the plastic food baskets, the lack of cerviche and banquettes that reject you faster than an internet-generated blind-date.

But it has its strengths. And we’re not talking only about the 2000-strong sauce list or the fact that we finally have a decent local sit-down Mexican. No. Its greatest strength lies in the basement…

With Dick Bradsell – long-standing cocktail legend – at the helm, El Camino’s basement bar promises a 3am license, cracking drinks, tables that have been sworn to move at the first hint of a late night boogie, and an aspirationally referral-only members policy.

Of course, we’ll have to wait and see. But our hopes are high. And even if it’s not quite the Bar Messiah, at least we can have a damn good time finding out.

INFO
El Camino opens its basement bar tomorrow, Wednesday Jan 27
Email ElCamino This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for membership consideration or call them directly

El Camino, 25-27 Brewer Street, W1F 0RR
020 7734 7711