New York has two new bars worth seeking out in June as Chelsea Market welcomes a Japanese listening bar to its ranks and the Flatiron District gets a sophisticated wine venue with France, Italy and the US as its focus. In the UK, London’s Soho has a ‘house-party style bar’ with cocktails priced at nearer £10 than £20, notable because the former is now a price point generally being abandoned in the capital as rising costs are passed on to punters. In the southern hemisphere, renowned mixologist Márcio Silva has opened a two-floor bar in a trendy district of São Paulo with a cocktail list showcasing his expertise.
Read on to discover the most exciting new bars to visit this June.
The best new bars to visit in June 2024
Exímia
São Paulo, Brazil
Márcio Silva has been named in Drinks International’s 100 most influential people in the bar industry for five years in a row, and now brings his knowledge and experience gained in bars across the globe to a new opening in the Itaim Bibi district of central São Paulo. Intended as an ‘homage to Brazilian culture and history’, Exímia is spread across two floors and offers cocktails conceived by Silva and small plates by Manu Buffara, a previous winner of Latin America’s best female chef. The upstairs area (opening in mid-June) promises a party atmosphere, with low lighting and a DJ, while downstairs is the place to fully focus on enjoying conversation and the concoction in your glass.
Open now, instagram.com/eximiabar
Compagnie Des Vins Surnaturels Flatiron
New York, US
The Experimental Group has a range of hotels and bars around the world, including its small set of Compagnie Des Vins Surnaturels wine bars in Paris, London and New York. This latest opening is the fourth (and the second in New York), finding its home in the Flatiron District. The wine list will focus on small producers, with a particular focus on France, Italy and the US, and executive chef Eric Bolyard has created a menu featuring grilled meats, seafood and locally sourced vegetables to accompany the wines. Designer Dorothée Meilichzon has worked with the Experimental Group on several previous projects, including the existing bar in New York, and for the Flatiron venue she brings together the building’s original brickwork and parquet flooring with natural materials and atmospheric lighting. A classy destination for a good glass of wine.
Opens mid-June, compagniedesvinssurnaturels.com/nyc-flat-iron#welcome
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No Nuisance
St Albans, UK
Alastair Burgess, owner of the award-winning cocktail bar Happiness Forgets in Shoreditch, east London, has opened a second bar but this time in the place where he has recently relocated: St Albans. Anyone who’s ever been to Happiness Forgets will recall the tiny proportions of the speakeasy-style basement bar and No Nuisance is of a similar size. The cocktail list is short, too, at ten drinks but expect them all to be of top quality. There are plenty of seasonal creations to choose from with the arrival of summer, including a strawberry sherry Spritz, a frozen Martini and a frozen watermelon Margarita but, naturally, classics are also available. London’s ‘commuter towns’ endure something of a mixed reputation when it comes to food and drink, so the arrival of No Nuisance is certainly a boon for St Albans.
Open now, instagram.com/nonuisancebar
N’Between
New York, US
One of the latest additions to Chelsea Market, the food hall just off the Highline in New York’s Meatpacking District, N’Between is a Japanese cocktail bar and take on a traditional Izakaya. Sheldon Wong, who has more than a decade in the bar industry, is behind the creative, Japanese approach to cocktails. Alongside drinks that combine Western and Japanese influences, such as the Viewer Discretion Advised that incorporates gin, Cava and shisho, there is a selection of yakitori and kushiyaki (grilled skewers) to order, as well as other snacks like chicken karaage with nanban tartar sauce and Gyūdon (a beef rice bowl). A dish simply called ‘Addictive Cabbage’ also sounds fun. All this is to be enjoyed in a softly lit room with a back wall that hosts thousands of records to be played on the bar’s purpose-built hi-fi system.
Open now, nbetween.bar
The Little Violet Door
London, UK
The are several branches of Little Door already in existence across London, billed as ‘house-party style bars’ designed to feel like going to a friend’s for drinks, music, snacks, games and general silliness. Little Violet Door on Kingly Street promises more of the same but with plenty of ’60s references owing to its proximity to Carnaby Street. Expect cocktails as colourful as the décor, including the Crimes of Passion (pictured), snacks such as fried chicken and arancini, plus DJs to play later on in the evenings. Perhaps not a venue for those with chromophobia but for many others, this will be a quirky place to stop in for a drinks, as well as a break from all the green leather, wooden panelling and seriousness of so many other cocktail bars.
Open 10 June, thelittlevioletdoor.co.uk
