Padella – the much-loved and well-known pasta restaurant in Borough Market – had limited production space, but was looking to include considered cocktails that could add to guest experience in the quick turnaround space of the venue. The Mr Lyan Studio team created a series of drinks that harked to Italian drinking culture whilst folding in British seasonal flavours. Following the success at the London Bridge venue, the team were invited to create a series of ‘British Aperitivo’ drinks for the new Shoreditch location

Working with chef owner Lee after his return to London from Copenhagen following his successful B*A*M pop-ups, the Mr Lyan team were tasked with creating a drinks offering that reflected the restaurants stylings and bold flavours, whilst also working with their limited preparation space and time constraints. Including brand liaisons, the team created signature serves that reflected the ethos of Black Axe Mangal

Created by pioneering chef Vivek Singh, and part of the Cinnamon Kitchen Restaurant Group, we were invited to develop new cocktails to serve in the venue, as well as rework the design of the menu, to collectively increase sales.

Taking a lead from the venue’s modern take on Indian cuisine, we developed serves that complimented the food and offered unique drinks that mirrored that pioneering take on flavours; increasing customer engagement, spend per head and overall guest experience dramatically.

As part of their ‘Radical Luxury’ campaign, Selfridge’s invited select companies to contribute work to a multi-sensory exhibition titled Flipside exploring the future of luxury. Amongst installations from brands and designers like Google, Loewe, Louis Vuitton and Gareth Pugh, Mr Lyan ran an experiential bar as one of the 7 brands exploring the radical takes on luxury within the show by serving unique taste experiences based on guests’ response to a sensory test.

Ahead of the launch of Atlas Building in Shoreditch, Mr Lyan Studio were invited to create a menu and host a sustainable dinner party for select media guests. Working in partnership with the Mr Lyan restaurant Cub, we developed a suite of bespoke drinks served throughout the meal.

The culmination of two years’ work looking into kegged and nitro cocktail technology for Jack Daniel’s was the launch of a handbook, distributed to bars around Europe. Given out for free by the brand in 2017 to the on-trade and interested consumers, and used at global activations, it pushed keg cocktail technology to new styles of spaces – seeding the brand into new markets and different tiers of venue.

Invited back to be part of the Esquire Townhouse programme once more, we created the theme of a “Sustainable Drinks at Home” cocktail masterclass for ticket holders. Bespoke recipe creation and drinks preparation was also carried out by Mr Lyan Studio, alongside the hosting of the event.

With the move of world-famous zero waste restaurant Silo from Brighton to London, we were approached to develop a new concept of cocktail menu to work alongside the culinary creations of owner and head chef Douglas McMaster.

Working with the team to remove any packaging waste, the challenge was to create intrigue, mirror a sustainable approach, and also be able to be served alongside the food like a wine.

We were invited by Koya to bring a new direction to their cocktail offering, and in turn, revisit their drinks menu as a whole to improve the guest experience.

With no designated bartender at the venue, the menu had to explain the available drinks clearly, as a tool to support the wait staff, and the drinks had to be simple to prepare to serve in a restricted space.

Taking a lead from the food menu, we created two bespoke cocktails that used kitchen trimmings that otherwise would be organic waste, with a nod to the influences of the cuisine.

Looking to the future, Mr Lyan envisioned a tongue-in-cheek “healthy” alcoholic drinks initiative via a dystopian government of the future which would actively promote “drinking for health”. Speaking at the Science Museum, as well as the Future Fest weekend, the team explored humankind’s relationship with alcohol, the world of microbes and the adult conversations around nutrition that are crucially missing from the modern day.

Lucky guests were then able to visit their pop-up bar to taste all the cocktails for themselves, including one to take away, as well as winning a place to the VIP reception which featured George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic, and a bespoke Mr Lyan cocktail.

Working directly with Rick Stein, we looked to create an offering that mirrored the heritage of the chef and his restaurant group.  The task required understanding the group, reflecting their origins in Cornwall and their loyal following, but taking a global view and attracting new audiences. 

This approach included a considered cocktail creation, efficiencies and production, menu, bar and BOH layouts, as well as media liaison. The result was not only an engagement with industry, media and consumers across the UK, it created an elevated spend per head and guest experience.

Forming part of that year’s Carnival of Knowledge programme (2013), Mr Lyan, alongside Rebel Dining Society’s Shay Ola, presented a more sustainable meal – a vision of what we could all be eating and drinking in 50 years time including a lecture on sustainable dining, the potential role of insect and alternative protein, and the role of creativity & language in shaping habits. Inviting diners to explore delicious new flavours whilst having a positive impact on the planet. Including insect dumplings, and experimental cocktails, it engaged consumers in a challenging conversation around waste within fine dining – and coined the term ‘closed loop cocktails’.