Tini Bar Chelsea

Tini Bar

Chelsea

Tini Bar

venues, May 2009, COMMENTS

Kings of Clubs’ is the key phrase adopted by the press, amongst others like ‘power players’ and ‘pied pipers of the capital’s jet set scene’, when referring to Piers Adam Nick House and Guy Pelly. Savvy Londoners with a watchful eye on the capital’s sophisticated social scene will no doubt be aware that this trio move in high circles; Adam was best man to Guy Ritchie, Pelly is Prince Harry’s best friend, and House’s address book is a veritable who’s who of A-list celebs. Adam and House’s first joint venue was the 2006 launch of Mahiki in Piccadilly, which has been a lasting success with moneyed party-lovers and royals, and a prime spot for paparazzi.

But away from the tinted sheen of the commercial press, I arrive - with no sensationalist agenda - at their new venture, Tini Bar on Walton Street, to get to know some of the industry’s most esteemed entrepreneurs. Adam and Pelly greet me, along with bar manager Gianfranco Spada (pictured middle - Nick House could not attend at the last minute). Adam and Pelly appear relaxed, but with the serious edge that comes from a commitment to perfection and an awareness that they have a lot to live up to. Adam is a veteran West End club developer whose career began in the early 1990s with the launch of K Bar on Fulham Road. He is also the brains behind the Rock, Kabaret, Drones and The Hanover Grand. Nick House is a stalwart of the high-flying London club scene, who shot to success after he established Soho-based promotions and consultancy company Nick House Entertainment (nhe group) in 1999. It was through his business that he represented Adam’s early venues, resulting in a potent partnership that has prevailed for over a decade. Pelly joined the duo as promotions manager at Mahiki, bringing with him the interest of those who circulate in and around the realms of royalty.

Last summer the operators brought us Whisky Mist (June 2008 issue of NIGHT Magazine / www.nightmagazine.co.uk), a more mature and well-groomed drinking hole designed to attract the middle-aged, whisky-loving bankers of Kensington and St John’s Wood. Devoted fans of the young, hedonistic vibe at Mahiki would not necessarily follow the crowd to this venue, but that’s part of the trio’s engineered plan to cash in on different types of consumers. Explains Adam: “The business model for us is to create four or five unique concepts. There’s going to be a symbiotic relationship between them and they’ll be economies of scale, but they’ll be very individual. There will be a crossover in marketing and the demographic, but by using five we can control where a certain type of consumer goes out to drink and dance.”

The Punch Bowl, an authentically re-vamped British pub, which the trio bought in early 2008 for £2.5 million with film director and Madonna’s ex-husband Guy Ritchie, is another part of the puzzle in the trio’s game plan. But out of all the assets in their richly varied estate, the businessmen believe that their new kingdom, Tini Bar on Walton Street, has the greatest potential for the future.

With no experience of their other venues, armed only with the celeb-tainted media image of the group’s businesses, I enter their new Italian aperitivo bar Tini (a name derived from the traditional pre-dinner drink Martini). All preconceptions immediately fade away when I discover an unassuming and authentic ‘50s Milanese style bar, with classical furnishings of a mature taste. General manager Anthony Whitehead, former operations manager at Café De Paris, which Nick House promoted, says this is often the reaction of people who visit one of their venues for the first time. “The press can almost go against you because you feel intimidated; you think of Mahiki as ‘Wow this is where all the royals go, do I go there or do I not?’ Then you go there and it’s a really good place that’s down to earth and fun and you think ‘What’s the fuss about?’ in a nice way,” says Whitehead.

The concept for Tini Bar began with the location and the venue, which was discovered by Pelly. He explains: “We noticed that around this area other bars weren’t normally busy until 9pm, so there was a real window of opportunity early evening; that’s when the aperitivo idea transpired.” Adam added: “When this site became available it was obvious it had to be something that was much more international, more European and more chic because of course that’s the market that lives round here.” Inspired after a visit to Italy, Adam and Pelly wanted a place where staff serve great drinks, keep bringing out great food, with spot on, very Italian service.

Early evening the bar offers a relaxed environment with background house music, then as the hours progress post 9pm, the lights are dimmed and up-tempo house and new age jazz plays at a louder volume to let the frivolity begin. And whilst the venue does not have a guest list or particular door policy, the reputation of its directors has already pulled a high profile crowd, starting from the glamorous opening night that coincided with Donatella Versace’s Fashion Fringe Party. Says Pelly: “We join the guest lists up, it’s an obvious thing to do. They come here on a Tuesday night then go to Whisky Mist and on Thursday it’s more of a Mahiki tie up.”

Aside from the faces that frequent the venue, the vibe is unpretentious and the customer’s enjoyment is maintained through the venue’s impeccable service, the provenance of the drinks and the relaxed environment. The team has sourced a highly skilled and mostly Italian workforce from the bar and restaurant background, most notably Sardinian bar manager Gianfranco Spada, who came to London eight years ago as a commi waitor for Cecconi’s and grew to become one of the most talented Italian mixologists in the capital. Bored of what was going on bar-wise in the city, Gianfranco had been looking for someone to create an Italian or French orientated aperitivo bar concept for quite some time, when he came across Adam, House and Pelly. He says: “There was nothing going on that was based on vermouth and the history of the aperitivo. When somebody approached me to talk about the concept for Tini, it was a huge coincidence.”

Spada has created a three-pronged cocktail menu, including ‘Aperitivi’ - traditional aperitifs; ‘Oggetti Smarriti’ - meaning Lost Property, which includes five cocktails he found in books dating back to 1878; and ‘Selezione della casa’ - meaning house selection, which are inspired by Italian food, such as ice-cream and herbs. Says Gianfranco: “I have tried to match the drinks to the food, so for example we make the mojito with basil and sage, instead of mint.”

Gabriel Murray of Studio48London completed the design and implementation of Tini’s interiors, alongside designer Adam Bray, who sourced artwork and prints in order to funk up the venue. Gabriel has created an elegant space, tying in elements of Italian decadence and theatre with the need for privacy and comfort. The bar has a timeless luxury feel, with intimate spaces and low tables presided over by a typically Italian, polished stone wall-length bar. Mirrors draw attention to the retro Pirelli calendar prints that hang on the walls. Gabriel says: “The challenge was to create a unique spatial arrangement in a small space, to establish a real luxury bar feel with lounge style fixed seating as key visceral anchors and to have fun with an overlay design aesthetic of cosmopolitan, Italian modern, with a back beat of traditional icons.”

On recommendation, main contractor PM Shopfitters came on board to remove the former central island bar and put in the new bar and banquette seating. They stripped and re-stained the timber floors and managed other aspects of the build. Adam Bray recommended design and funriture specialist JP Interiors Ltd to create and implement bespoke features for the venue, including copper top tables and leather banquette seating. On the technology front, the operators did not hesitate in reviving a long-term partnership with installers Sound Division, who worked on both Mahiki and Whisky Mist. The bar already had a great JBL sound system, so it was thought both economically and environmentally a better decision to keep the existing system, with some new additions. Sound Division stripped, serviced and re-positioned the six JBL Control One speakers, Crest and Cloud amplifiers, and Formula Sound AVC2 sound limiter, then added two Sound Division 12” subs and a Behringer Crossover. “We felt the bar would benefit, especially because there is a DJ in there, to have a crossover to separate the bass speakers from the mids and highs,” explains Sound Division’s David Graham.

The operators were pleased with the work of all of the contractors and are confident, to a certain extent, that the product will work. Says Adam: “It’s a lot easier to get people out after 9pm, so we might be mad, we might be proven completely wrong and nobody wants to go out early evening after all, but my gut instinct is if it works in Italy and there’s lot of international types round here, then it can work.”

Out of all the venues in their portfolio, Adam believes that Tini Bar has the greatest potential for brand expansion and fast roll-out; the predominant reason for this being its suitability to the hotel market. Explains Adam: “This concept would work amazingly in hotel bars or lobbies. It’s the sort of thing that would appeal to guests within the hotel and also local residents.” Adam reveals that they’ve already been approached by one particular hotel chain and an individual hotel in London is interested in working with them. With plans for a Mahiki and Whisky Mist in the UAE, it’s clear that the trio have their sights on overseas expansion and with their acute eye for the business, there’s no reason we shouldn’t expect a Gordon Ramsay style penetration of the global hotel market for Tini Bar.

Words: Rachel Esson
Photos: Jim Ellam

From: May 2009 Issue

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