Milk Beach in Queen’s Park will be unrecognisable when it reopens in the summer. Founder Elliot Milne closed the Aussie-style restaurant a few weeks back to make room for an entirely new concept: Bar Blondie, a wine bar and restaurant inspired by southern European wine bar culture.
“I live in Queen’s Park, and I’ve seen how it’s changed over the last 10 years,” Milne tells Broadsheet. “I saw a cool opportunity to do something different [in the Milk Beach space]. I think Queen’s Park, but also west London in general needs this new kind of wine bar.”
Bar Blondie is a partnership between Milne and sommelier Alexandra Price, whose experience runs the gamut from the high-end – Beaverbrook members club and Shoreditch Michelin-starred restaurant Plates – to the more casual, like Ham Restaurants (Bar Crispin, Bistro Freddie, etc), where she was head of wine. “In Alex, I’ve found the perfect person to do a different kind of wine bar for west London,” Milne says. “We very much want to bridge that gap between the classics … but also, we want to be able to experiment trying some new, independent wine-makers, some skin-contact, low-intervention stuff.”
While the 160-strong wine list will span the globe and take in large and small winemakers working in both classic and new-wave styles, holding them all together will be a dedication to respectful farming and expression of terroir.
The food will take a similar tack, with a focus on quality produce and southern European-style dining. Think aperitivo-style snacks, small plates, fresh pasta and larger sharing plates from the grill.
As for design? The inspiration comes from surprising quarters: spaghetti westerns, a 1960s and ’70s subgenre of western films set in the west of 19th-century America and filmed in Europe by mainly Italian filmmakers on low budgets. It’s a nod to the space’s origins as a horse stable and will incorporate barn doors that open onto the mews Bar Blondie is set on. Macaulay Sinclair (Permit Room, Dishoom) will lead the design with backup from Ryan Stanier, the founder of The Other Art Fair, who will curate artwork.
Beyond the plate and glass, Milne intends Bar Blondie to feel like “an artist’s living room”. A cultural programme influenced by the area’s creatives (Milne mentions locals like Zadie Smith and Cillian Murphy) will also be a focus. Expect DJs, poetry readings, chess, live music, wine tastings and more.
“A wine bar is a really cool place for experimentation and discovery,” Milne says. “Doing things beyond wine and food.”
Bar Blondie opens this summer at 19–21 Lonsdale Road, NW6 6RA.
