Nightjar Kingly Court: More than a decade after the original, new bar promises more live music and late nights

The original Nightjar — once widely thought of as the best bar in London — is getting its first sibling, in Carnaby
Old favourite: the Nightjar classics, including the English Mule, pictured, will return
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David Ellis @dvh_ellis10 March 2022

More than a decade after the first Nightjar opened, a second has been announced for Kingly Court. It will open during the first week of April.

While news of the follow up has been rumoured for a while, details have so far proven scant. Now the team behind it, founders Edmund Weil and Roisin Stimpson, have shared a little of what to expect.

The opening is a significant one for London’s cocktail scene as the original Nightjar, which on launch in 2010 helped kick off London’s “speakeasy” infatuation, placed in the top three spots on the World’s 50 Best Bars list for four years in a row. Weil and Stimpson went on to found the Speakeasy Entertainment group, which also operates Oriole and the pair of Swift bars, all three award-winners.

The new space, which will seat 85, will not be a radical departure from the original, promising prohibition-era decor, live music, late nights and a jazz-era inspired drinks list. As per the Old Street site, the Carnaby Nightjar will also specialise in rare and hard-to-find vintage spirits, with some dating back as far as the mid-1800s. While much, then, will be the same as the original, one change is that drinkers will be able to sit at the bar, long a no-no in Shoreditch.

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“There will be a lot of overlap between Shoreditch and Carnaby menus — we want people to be able to order their favourite Nightjar cocktails in both venues,” Stimpson told the Standard. “However Carnaby will be getting some of its own exclusive drinks too. We are particularly fond of the Pisco Sour twist being developed for Carnaby, and also our twist on the pre-prohibition Ermine cocktail, which is a delicious floral but punchy martini. You will also see some of our long-beloved bestsellers such as the Toronto, the London Mule, and the Barrel Aged Zombie.”

Drinks will be divided four ways: pre-prohibition, prohibition and post-war cocktail categories, with most priced in the mid-teens, as well as Nightjar signatures. There will also be sharing cocktails available for two to four people, priced at £12-a-head, as well as non-alcoholic drinks, all £8. Food will mostly be snacks: toasties, crackers, a cheese board.

The Kingly Court venue, Weil said, “will be a little more polished than the original”, but added that the site’s history of live music appealed to the pair.

“Though it spent a couple of decades as Ben Sherman’s stock room, it previously existed as a series of really iconic music venues: it was London’s first black-owned music club in the Thirties and Fourties, The Blue Lagoon Club, kicked off the beep craze in the Fifties under Ronnie Scott at Club Eleven, and subsequently hosted artists such as Bob Marley, The Who, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Obviously there is a lot to live up to, but knowing what a rich tapestry has adorned the space in the past is very inspiring,” Weil added.

Though opening only on Wednesday and Thursdays (from 5pm-1am) and on Fridays and Saturdays (from 5pm-3am), there will be regular live jazz, blues and swing, with a cover charge on every table going to the musicians.

Stimpson and Weil told the Standard they were “delighted” to open a follow up to their original hit, but weren’t trying to emulate its early success. “It was exhilarating to be up in the top three of 50 Best Bars for four years running, but in honesty it was never a goal we worked towards,” said Stimpson.

“It is of course a great honour to be included in such lists, it’s wonderful for our employees, and vertical doesn’t hurt business, but in terms of pursuit of a goal we are much more focused on showing every guest a good time, all night, every night,” added Weil.

“If the awards come, then so much the better.”

Nightjar Kingly Court will open at 49-51 Carnaby Street, W1F 9PY, in the first week of April. For more information, visit barnightjar.com

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