Founded by the visionary duo of Monica Berg and Alex Kratena in 2019, in just five years this Old Street-based establishment in London has scaled cocktail heights, rightfully earning itself the position of fourth in the 50 Best Bars in the World ranking this year. Are there better-looking bars in the world? Almost certainly, but if you like that brand of postmodern industrialised chic then Tayēr + Elementary will definitely float your boat.
As the name suggests, it is actually composed of two bars: Tayēr being the sort of haute-cuisine behind-the-velvet-curtain back room, while Elementary functions as the relaxed neighbourhood watering hole, with a large central bar serving up classic cocktails (the ‘One-Sip Martini’ has earned legendary status, but our favourite is the Yuzu Gimlet) and its own-brand beers and ales. Refreshingly for a bar, it has an oft-changing seasonal drinks menu too, utilising available herbs and other ingredients.
Tayēr is more like the three Michelin-starred private dining experience. It’s in here that the taste-boggling cocktails are created, and it happens around an incredible modular bar of hexagonal compartments that Monica and Alex designed themselves and have put into production (interior design lovers, you will swoon). In this apothecary from the future, Monica and Alex use seasonality to lead them towards incredible flavours, fusing herbs, spices, distillations, and God knows what else to surprise and enchant your tastebuds. The details are immaculate, every glass frozen to frosted perfection. Drinking here is like performing a liturgy to messrs Dionysus, Bacchus, and all the gods of booze. That’s a cult we can get behind.
Ryan Thompson is a UK-based menswear and lifestyle writer, whose work has appeared in, among other publications, the Financial Times, Mr Porter, The Rake and Ape to Gentleman
