A new cocktail bar from a duo of Swift alumni is opening in London Bridge. Nancy’s will open on June 1, pairing well-made cocktails with a space designed for irreverent good times – and will be one of the few venues open till late in the area, with a 2am weekend licence. It takes its name from Nancy, a tragic character in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, who met her end beneath London Bridge in the film adaptation. “The bar pays homage to her rebellious vice and virtue,” general manager Max Wolff tells Broadsheet. He’s joined by bartender Martha May Markham, who has led the “market-to-glass” menu, a nod to its use of ingredients from nearby Borough Market.
The design is going all-in on maximalism: a tiger-print pool room, a disco-ball dancefloor and animal-print banquettes edged with chromatic floor lamps. The good times will keep rolling, thanks to regular DJ sets and live acoustic sessions.
Drinks are similarly built for good times – most notably the Negroni trolley. Guests can roll a die to be served one of six Negroni styles, from a classic take (but with a spritz of leather perfume, a reference to the area’s leather-tanning history), a chocolate version that’s served with an orange chocolate truffle from from So Chocolicious in Borough Market, and another version with mezcal, gin and absinthe. “There's a bit of theatre to it, but it’s also genuinely the best way to get someone to lean in and try something they might not have ordinarily ordered,” Wolff says.
Then there are the “small sip” cocktails: a trio of drinks that allows guests to try something new on a smaller scale, including the Corsica, which is a twist on the Clover Club made with cachaca and Lillet Rosé, and the Puebla, a more elevated Tequila Sunrise. Ten signature cocktails will draw inspiration from the bar’s location and Borough Market traders. “Borough Market is one of the most extraordinary food destinations in the world, and it’s right on our doorstep, so it felt like a natural starting point,” Wolff says. That means a cocktail using lemon and lime marmalade from the Jamaican condiment stall Pimento Hill, and a blueberry pudding-inspired drink that nods to Humble Crumble. The olive brine in the house dirty Martini (which uses Oloroso sherry and Belvedere vodka, and is garnished with a gilda), is a special blend using brine from Borough Olives that would otherwise go to waste.
“With so many new buildings and amazing food and drink spots popping up,” Wolff says, “we felt there was a gap for a place that truly celebrated the area and the people who have made it what it is.”
Nancy’s soft launches on May 19, and officially opens on June 1 at 4th Floor, Colechurch House, London Bridge Walk, SE1 2SX.
