Tayēr + Elementary

If you drink one cocktail in London this year, drink it here

London's cocktail scene has spent the better part of a decade splitting into two recognisable camps: high-volume venues chasing trend cycles, and a smaller cohort of technically focused bars where the sourcing of ingredients carries as much weight as the spirit list. Tayēr + Elementary, at 152 Old Street in EC1V, sits firmly in the second group. For anyone assembling a serious drinking itinerary in London, this is where to start.

Two rooms, two registers

The split-room format at Old Street is not just an architectural quirk — it reflects a considered position on how a bar can serve different types of drinkers without compromising either experience. Elementary operates as the more accessible front-of-house: a walk-in counter where shorter, ingredient-driven drinks are available without advance planning. Tayēr runs as the deeper programme, where the sourcing logic and technical construction behind each drink is given more room to breathe. This kind of structural division has precedents in the broader cocktail world, but it remains rare in London, where most ambitious bars choose one register and hold it. The model allows a single address to function both as a neighbourhood resource and as a destination for drinkers who track bar programmes the way others track restaurant kitchens.

Sourcing as the editorial argument

The more interesting question at Tayēr + Elementary is not what goes into the glass but where it comes from and why that matters. London's leading cocktail bars have increasingly moved toward a food-world sourcing logic: direct relationships with producers, seasonal ingredient rotation, and an awareness of provenance that mirrors what the city's better kitchens have been doing for years. Tayēr + Elementary has been one of the clearer articulations of that approach on the bar side. Ingredient sourcing at this level is not decorative — it changes the flavour profile of the drink in ways that are legible to anyone paying attention. A fermented base, a foraged element, or a house-made tincture from a named botanical source produces a different result than a generic substitute, and the leading bars in this tier make that difference apparent without over-explaining it. Compare this to the sourcing arguments being made at destination kitchens like CORE by Clare Smyth or The Ledbury: the underlying philosophy is the same, even if the medium is different.

Alex Kratena, Monica Berg, and the credentials behind the programme

Bar's positioning is inseparable from the professional background of its founders. Alex Kratena's tenure at Artesian at The Langham placed him inside one of the most scrutinised cocktail programmes in London during a period when that bar held the World's 50 Best Bars leading spot multiple times. Monica Berg's work spans Scandinavian bar culture, a region that has contributed significantly to the ingredient-first, low-intervention approach now prevalent in serious cocktail bars globally. Together, they represent a specific strand of expertise: internationalist in training, technically grounded, and sceptical of theatrics for its own sake. Their credentials function here the way a Michelin-starred kitchen pedigree functions at a fine dining table, as a signal about the standards being applied, not as a story to be told. For context on what comparable kitchen credentials look like in London's dining rooms, see Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library.

Old Street as context

EC1V address matters. Old Street's character has shifted considerably over the past fifteen years, moving from light-industrial residue to a mixed neighbourhood where tech offices, independent hospitality, and older local businesses coexist at varying degrees of tension. For a serious bar programme, the location is an asset: it draws a clientele that is curious rather than merely fashionable, and it sits outside the West End circuits that can flatten ambition into service volume. The nearest comparison internationally, bars that operate a technically serious programme from a non-central, working neighbourhood address, would include ABV in San Francisco and Bar Contra in New York City, both of which have used neighbourhood positioning to their advantage.

Where Tayēr + Elementary sits in the London bar picture

London's bar scene at the top tier has never been more stratified. Hotel bars like Scarfes Bar serve a different function, atmosphere and occasion-drinking, with drinks as one component among several. Tayēr + Elementary is not that. It belongs to the cohort where the drink itself is the primary object, and where the sourcing, preparation, and presentation of that drink constitute the editorial argument of the evening. For a fuller picture of where this bar sits within London's drinking options, the EP Club London bars guide maps the full range. Those building a longer trip around London's hospitality should also consult the London restaurants guide, the London hotels guide, the London wineries guide, and the London experiences guide for a complete view. For those extending a UK trip beyond the capital, comparable levels of kitchen seriousness are applied at The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton, all approaching their respective disciplines with the same sourcing rigour that defines Tayēr + Elementary's bar programme.

Planning your visit

Tayēr + Elementary is located at 152 Old Street, EC1V 9BW, a short walk from Old Street station. The Elementary side of the bar operates as a walk-in space, which makes it accessible on shorter notice than the Tayēr programme. For the fuller experience, checking the bar's current booking arrangements directly is advisable, as availability at this tier tends to be limited.