Late bar & kitchen
Still open.
Still cooking.
The lamps stay low and the pans stay hot until one, long after the rest of the street has put its chairs up.
Now 14:02 · the lamps go on in 4 hours
Lamps off. Chairs down.
Back at six.
About
The room,
plainly.
The room is under the street, so nothing outside gets in. No windows to tell you the hour, and no music loud enough to stop a conversation.
Mahogany that was here before us, navy velvet that has taken the shape of whoever sat in it longest, and one brass lamp over every table — turned down, never off.
The boards
Three backgammon sets live under the bar. Ask for one — the dice are wooden and the boards are older than the licence.
A board stays out until someone wins. We do not clear it to turn the table.
Come for a drink. Stay because nobody here is going to ask whether you want anything else.
Tonight
Not yet. The lamps go on at six.
Doors at six every night but Monday. Booths are worth asking about on a Friday.
Tue
18 — 02
Kitchen to one
Wed
18 — 02
Kitchen to one
Thu
18 — 02
Kitchen to one
Fri
18 — 03
Late licence
Sat
18 — 03
Late licence
Sun
18 — 01
Quiet one
Mon
Dark
The room rests
The kitchen closes at one, whatever the bar is doing. Last orders are called forty-five minutes before we lock the door.
Ush · late bar & kitchen
The list
Nine drinks.
No more than that.
Short enough to know by heart, and every one of them made from scratch. Ask for what is not on it — the bar will make it if it can.
Cocktails
6 cocktailsSix, and they change when what is growing changes.
$14
The rough spirit of the house, softened with lemon and a little egg white until it stops fighting you.
House spirit · lemon · egg white
How it is made
Shaken hard with lemon and white until it doubles, then strained twice so the foam sits clean and holds to the last mouthful.
$13
The herb, not the bottle. Bright enough to start the evening on.
Gin · garden herb · soda
How it is made
A handful of herb muddled with sugar until the oil comes out, gin over it, then soda poured down the side so nothing is stirred flat.
$15
Brandy, walnut bitters, one large piece of ice, one twist of orange.
Brandy · walnut bitters · sugar
How it is made
Sugar dissolved in bitters before the brandy goes in, stirred forty times over one cut cube. It gets better as it opens, so do not hurry it.
$12
Sharp, low, and the colour of the last hour of light.
Bitter aperitif · vermouth · sparkling
How it is made
Fruit pressed the same day, dry vermouth, and something sparkling. Built in the glass so the fruit stays at the bottom until you stir it.
$14
For the second half of the night, when you have decided to stay.
Espresso · cognac · demerara
How it is made
A double espresso pulled to order, cognac instead of vodka, shaken until the crema turns to a proper head. Ordered after midnight more than before it.
$12
Whatever ripened last, taken seriously.
Vodka · stone fruit · honey
How it is made
Fruit pressed with the back of a spoon, honey to take the edge off, and soda. Tart enough that the first sip makes people sit up.
By the glass
3 poursA short shelf. Ask what is open and we will show you the bottle.
$9
Dusty, high and dry, and it goes with the lamb.
One red, changed weekly · 150ml
How it is made
Poured from a bottle opened that evening — we do not keep reds open past a night. Ask and we will show you what is on the shelf.
$10
Quince and stone. Colder than you expect it to be served.
One white, changed weekly · 150ml
How it is made
Kept at eight degrees, not four, so the fruit has somewhere to go. It opens in the glass over about ten minutes.
$8
Three of them behind the bar. Room temperature, one glass, no ice.
Three to choose from · 40ml
How it is made
Poured at room temperature into a small glass, because chilling it hides everything that makes it worth drinking. Bread and cheese come with it, unasked.
The kitchen
Hot food until one in the morning.
Not a bar snack menu. Five things, cooked properly, at an hour when nowhere else will cook for you.
Brown butter, sumac, a spoon of thick yoghurt.
How it is made
Rolled and filled in the afternoon, boiled to order, then finished in butter until the edges catch.
Grilled bread, tomato cooked down, an egg yolk on top.
How it is made
The tomato goes on at six and cooks down for two hours. The yolk arrives raw and you break it yourself.
Charred on the flat top until it squeaks.
How it is made
Dry pan, no oil, until both faces blister. The honey goes on hot, so it runs before it sets.
Whatever went into jars in September.
How it is made
Green tomato, wild garlic, and cabbage with beet — all put up in September. When a jar ends, that one is off.
One spoon each. Order it at midnight.
How it is made
Dark chocolate melted with sesame paste and a pinch of salt, served just warm in a small glass. Two spoons if you ask.
The last plate · one o'clock
At one, whatever the kitchen has left goes onto one plate for whoever is still here. No menu, no choosing, one price. Some nights it is lamb. Some nights it is eggs and bread, and those are the good nights.
$12 · while it lasts
Where to sit
Three rooms, and they are not the same room.
Tell us where you want to be when you ask for a table. It changes the evening more than anything on the list does.
Nine stools
The bar
Where the good conversations happen, and the only place we never hold. Walk in and one will be free before long.
Four booths
The booths
Deep, dark, and built for four people who intend to stay past midnight. These are the ones people ask for.
Six tables
The terrace
Under the trees out front, and warm enough from May. The street goes quiet around you at about eleven.
Ask for a table
Nine stools · four booths
Ask for a table
Tell us when, and we will write back.
Nothing is held until we do.
How many
Two can have a booth, or the bar — which we never hold.
Which night
What time
A table for two. Tell us who it is for and when.
Send the requestFind us
Sample address · your cityBelow the corner, one flight down
Finding the door
Two minutes off the square, on the left. There is no sign — look for the brass lamp in the stairwell and take the stairs down.
Level access at the terrace gate on the corner — tell us when you write and we will meet you there.
Visit us
Sample address · your city
Two minutes offthe square