Kwãnt

Kwãnt is Erik Lorincz's cocktail bar on an upmarket corner of Stratton Street, moments from Green Park. Lorincz spent close to eight years as head bartender at the American Bar at The Savoy before opening the first Kwãnt beneath Momo on Heddon Street in 2019, then relaunching it here, in partnership with Mourad Mazouz, in the summer of 2023.

The room reads as a colonial gentleman's club by way of the South Pacific: hand-painted Polynesian tapa murals, a cane ceiling, palms set in the windows and retro sofas upholstered in Dedar fabric. Huge windows let the afternoon sun in; after dark the venetian blinds close and the light drops to something warmer. A monolithic bar sits at the centre of it all, with the team working three stations around an open fourth side, so guests sit among the bartenders rather than across from them. Chess tables and a single seat behind the bar reserved for solo guests complete the detail.

Ranked among Europe's 50 Best Bars, Kwãnt is a walk-in bar rather than a published hire venue, but the whole room can be taken privately by arrangement through the house for a reception or a seated evening, and the bar's cocktail omakase seats a small group at the counter for a guided tasting. It suits an intimate celebration, a birthday or a launch where the drinks are the occasion.