Tayēr + Elementary

Alex Kratena and Monica Berg don't do things by halves. After years at the top of the industry, Kratena behind the bar at The Artesian, Berg reshaping the Nordic cocktail scene, they opened Tayēr + Elementary on Old Street in 2019 with a premise that sounds simple but is deceptively ambitious: two bars under one roof, each with a completely different identity. It shouldn't work as well as it does.

Walk in and you're in Elementary, a modern neighbourhood bar that feels genuinely welcoming. Pre-batched variations of the classics rotate regularly, and there's wine, beer, and coffee if cocktails aren't your thing. It's the kind of place you'd stop by on a Thursday afternoon without a plan. No pretence, no password, no dress code. Just good drinks served quickly and well.

Step through to the back and the mood shifts. Tayēr is a produce-driven cocktail bar centred around an impressive honeycomb-shaped island counter, where bartenders work with a focused, almost culinary precision. The space is stripped back, clean lines, industrial textures, minimal decoration, and the soundtrack leans into drill and hip-hop, giving the room an energy that feels distinctly contemporary. Every drink on the menu is named after its lead ingredient: Roasted Hazelnut, Porcini, Shiso, Rye Bread. Each one is built from just two or three core components, a deliberate constraint that forces every element to earn its place.

The results are remarkable. The Pemba Vanilla, nothing more than Maker's Mark Bourbon and Perique tobacco, is the kind of drink that makes you question why anyone uses more than two ingredients. The Passion Fruit + Tuberose layers Chivas Regal with Amontillado Sherry and coconut in a way that reads tropical on paper but drinks with real weight and complexity. The Roasted Hazelnut reimagines the martini through their own Tayēr x Hepple Gin and Martini Bianco Vermouth, toasted and nutty and deceptively simple. If you prefer something more familiar, classics are available from £25.

Service across both bars is excellent. The team is genuinely knowledgeable, happy to walk you through the thinking behind each drink or steer you toward something unexpected. The kitchen puts out a solid menu of small bites that holds its own against the drinks, which is rarer than it should be at this level.

A few honest notes: Tayēr's communal island seating means you'll be sitting alongside other guests, which is great for atmosphere but perhaps not the most intimate setting for a quiet date. The space is compact and walk-in only, so peak hours on Fridays and Saturdays can mean a wait. And the volume does creep up as the night goes on, though never to the point of being uncomfortable. At £12–20 per cocktail, the value here is outstanding for a bar consistently ranked among the world's five best. This is a place that takes its craft as seriously as any Michelin-starred kitchen, but never makes you feel like you need to take it seriously too.