Mid-century spaghetti western films may not be what springs to mind when strolling down the cobbles of Lonsdale Road in Queen’s Park. But dust off your hat and polish your spurs: Bar Blondie is a new saloon-style wine bar – with a salon-style cultural programme – that’s opening today, July 14.
Bar Blondie takes over the former Milk Beach site and joins Lonsdale Road’s slate of yoga studios, pizzerias and restaurants. The 45-cover wine bar and restaurant is the new venture from Elliot Milne (Milk Beach, Saltwater) and award-winning sommelier Alexandra Price (Bar Crispin, Plates, Beaverbrook).
Designed by Macaulay Sinclair (Hawksmoor, Dishoom), the mid-century modern-style space is filled with bespoke joinery, wooden chess and backgammon tables, and nods to country-western films, inspired by the building’s former life as a horse stable, as well as the films of spaghetti-western director Sergio Leone. It’s the sort of place where you can sink into a chaise longue with a Martini, as though you’ve wandered onto the set of a 1970s film. Ennio Morricone – who soundtracked some of the best-known spaghetti westerns – blares in the bathrooms while chefs swing in and out of the saloon doors into the kitchen. A turntable and stack of vinyl sit beside the bar, with Patti Smith’s Horses propped against the wall. Vintage Leone film posters line one wall, while artwork curated by Ryan Stanier – founder of The Other Art Fair and a friend of Milne and Price – hangs opposite.
Milne says the space was designed to feel “like a creative person’s living room”, drawing inspiration from Queen’s Park’s community of artists, writers, actors and musicians, from Annie Mac and Zadie Smith to Cillian Murphy. “We wanted to use creative people as our inspiration,” he tells Broadsheet.
When it comes to food and drink, Bar Blondie takes its cues from southern European wine-bar culture, with a street-facing terrace designed for afternoon drinks that spill into evening meals. The lengthy wine list spans the globe, pairing classic estates with emerging independent producers. Rather than organising it by country or grape variety, Price has grouped the collection around four fictional muses. Guests can drink like Joan Didion (soulful, terroir-driven wines), designer Ray Eames (precision and structure), Leone (iconic estates and prestige cuvées) or an anonymous “emerging actor” – a celebration of low-intervention producers and up-and-coming talent at a more forgiving price point.
“I always try to think about wine in a different way,” Price says. “Wine can be intimidating, so I wanted to find a creative way to break down that formality. You can identify with one of the characters, and you’re already halfway to choosing the wine.”
The menu – headed up by Alastair Walling (Planque, Noble Rot) – centres on snacks and share plates, from crostini topped with bluefin tuna and stracciatella to oysters with champagne mignonette and Wagyu bresaola. Pasta is handmade and includes pasta al pistou and slow-cooked lamb Genovese with provolone, while larger dishes from the grill range from monkfish tail with mussels and samphire to Txuleta (rib-eye) steak. Drawing on Italian and southern French influences, the menu is built around quality ingredients and dishes designed to complement Price’s wine list. “The ingredients really shine through,” Price says. “It’s those little tweaks and that little bit of personality that take it up another notch.”
More than just a neighbourhood wine bar, Milne hopes Bar Blondie will become a place people return to for community and creative exchange. The cultural programme will include nights of live music, poetry recitals, talks, chess nights and wine tastings.
“We didn’t want it to just be somewhere you come for food,” Milne says. “We want people to come before dinner, after dinner. It’s about bringing people together. A wine bar gives you the creative licence to do cool things, and we wanted to create a place that inspires conversation.”
Bar Blondie
19–21 Lonsdale Road, NW6 6RA
Hours:
Tue to Wed 5pm–11pm
Thu to Sat midday–midnight
Sun midday–9pm
