Mast Brothers at Bulldog Edition - HotBox and 46 & Mercy - Ginstock 2014

A speedy, photo heavy round-up of recent excursions on the blog today, featuring Brooklyn-based chocolatiers at the Ace Hotel, BBQ & basement booze from HotBox London, and juniper japes at Ginstock 2014.

Wednesday 26th November - On a recent trip to New York, my friend Tim & I dropped in to the Mast Brothers chocolate factory in Williamsburg after getting a caffeine fix at Blue Bottle Coffee and a fantastic brunch at Egg (all highly recommended - stay tuned for a MTL vs NY special edition). Short story: Their chocolate is superb.

Fast forward a few months, and I hear the excellent news that the Mast Brothers are going to be residing in The Bulldog Edition café space in the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch until early next year.  The even better news - that this is just a precursor to them opening a London based factory & brew bar on Redchurch Street.  Win.

At The Bulldog Edition, alongside their chocolate bars (a classy stocking filler if ever there was one), they are serving up their special Brewed Chocolate beverages - not your average indulgent hot chocolate, rather a serious cocoa creation akin to a finely crafted coffee.  

"Made with freshly roasted, ground cocoa nibs steeped with water and served in hot or cold iterations, brewed chocolate is intensely fruity and complex, drawing direct connection back to the cacao plant."

They recently opened a Brew Bar in New York to showcase them, and will do the same here.  

You can also get yourself a Masthattan cocktail which makes use of the brewed chocolate along with the usual rye, maraschino & vermouth suspects.  

And don't leave without getting your hands on an incredible Mast Brothers doughnut, if there are any left that is.  Apparently they start appearing around 10.30am.  

For more info, check out coffee guru Chloe Callow's post on Mast Brothers here.

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After one or two Masthattans and far too many pre-dinner doughnuts, Luke and I sped over to the launch of HotBox on Commercial Street.  HotBox is the latest street food sensation to settle down for good indoors, though I'm sure we'll still see them out and about occasionally.

"After smoking its way around the capital with residencies at Street Feast’s Dalston Yard, Hawker House and Battersea Power Station, as well as pop-ups at Wireless and Field Day festivals, HotBox is parking up its industrial smoker permanently in the heart of Spitalfields."

Upstairs you'll find all of the meaty goodness, including smoked chicken thighs, beef short rib, and house creations such as The Dirty Swine Sandwich (pulled pork collar, hot link sausages) and The Smoky Bandit (aged patty, smoked short rib, jalapeno, red pepper).  

Look out for specials such as Fish Glazed Pork Belly Masa Tacos, Slow Smoked Char Siu Pork Buns, and Hot Smoked Gravlax Salmon.  Sides include Smoked Mac'n'cheese, Ham Hock Pinto Beans and Grilled Elote. Finish off with Deep Fried Oreos or Molten Chilli Chocolate.

There's also a short cocktail list on this floor too, alongside a selection of draught, bottled & canned beers, and a strong whisky offering.

But that's not all.  Take a trip downstairs to find 46 & Mercy, a stylish basement bar from the Hotbox team.  I got distracted by the stunning menu designed by Arm & Eye for some time, and wasn't surprised to discover that they also worked on Hoxley & Porter in Islington.

Cocktails are more serious down here.  You'll find me drinking Stirred Mercy Brown (Scotch, Tea-infused Amaro, Sweet Vermouth, Oloroso Sherry), Blessed Thistle (Vodka, Pork-Fat & Thyme Washed Aromatised Wine, Lemon), and the outstanding Statler & Waldorf (Olmeca Atlos Blanco Tequila, Apple & Beetroot Shrub, Lime, Walnut Bitters).

A welcome addition to Spitalfields!

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Saturday 30th November - Last but not least, a rather boozy week ended with the reliably messy Ginstock.  After problems with a whiny Hackney council led to postponing the summer event, the Tweat Up team took their time and relocated to a handy warehouse space just off Bermondsey Street, which they have now named Bermondsey Stores.

Bermondsey Stores - a new location for Tweat Up & Street Feast events

8 gins teamed up with 8 bars for a 5 hour long cocktail competition judged by several hundred thirsty juniper lovers:

Beefeater & Graphic

Boxer Gin & Mark's Bar

Butler's Gin & Loves Company

Dodd's Gin & The Lost Angel

Half Hitch & Cecil's

Langley's No. 8 & Barbecoa

Sipsmith & Soho Grind

Williams Chase & The Whip

The Whip brought a hot cocktail completed with a knob of butter carved from a salami style sausage. Soho Grind twisted the Negroni with three types of gin.  The Lost Angel got it horribly wrong with tea-infused honey cream.  Several played it a bit safe.  I'd tell you more, but it's all a bit hazy.  Just make sure you get tickets for next year; there's no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

At the end of the afternoon, Butler's Gin and the highly entertaining Loves Company team were crowned Ginstock 2014 champions with their East Side Fizz - Butler's Gin, Purple Passion potion, lemon juice & soda.

East Side Fizz - the winning cocktail from Loves Company & Butler's Gin

Lobster Mac'n'cheese from Bob's Lobster

Ella with the Loves Company boys

For more photos from Ginstock 2014, head to Matt The List : Facebook

Exclusive : Some high-ranking Tweat Up officers whispered to me that Bermondsey Stores is going to be a new hub for them in South London, with the site in their hands for at least five years. Who knows what exactly they would do with it - fingers crossed for a Green Street Smoked Meats / Fette Sau style experience.  They would aim to open it during the week as well, something that Street Feast fans have been longing for.

P.S. Hawker House will be returning to Broadway Market on Friday 30 January - great news.

Green Street Smoked Meats in Chicago

Casita - Cotton's Rhum Shack - Beagle - Red Dog Saloon - The Macbeth

First of a few very brief round ups of all sorts from July:

Casita, Shoreditch - Casita is a teeny tiny Mexican bar, tucked away in the back streets of Shoreditch on Ravey Street near the Book Club.  It's just one room (a fair amount of which is taken up by the bar) so most people spill out onto the street.  They have a cocktail menu including the Casita G&T which contains neither gin nor tonic - instead it has ginseng and tequila!  There is a  fun and friendly atmosphere, with customers suddenly becoming bartenders and everyone being treated like a regular - Liverpool Street seemed a million miles away.  I rushed off to something else, but I have no doubt that Casita is an awesome place to spend an evening.  The Team List point goes to flatmate Maggie this time around.

Cotton's Rhum Shack, Box Park Shoreditch - Cotton's is a very lively Carribean bar and kitchen, hidden on top of Box Park near Shoreditch High Street Overground.  Walk past the more standard looking bar, down a corridor and you reach the covered but open air rum haven, overlooking Bethnal Green Road.  My visit was again brief, popping in for a quick drink to say farewell to Team List regular Harriet who is moving to Vienna, but it was very lively whilst I was there.  The food menu is enticing, and with 250 rums behind the bar, you can't really go wrong.  Head there for happy hour which, I believe, runs from 5-8 every day.

Wednesday 24th July - The end of the evening was already planned with an intimate (squashed) Snarky Puppy gig at the Macbeth in Hoxton, so I met Cassie early for some drinks and food.  We started at Beagle which is right next to Hoxton station, underneath the railway arches.  I first came across Beagle with List Leader Natalie at Feast all the way back in March before they had opened, where we tasted some delicious buttermilk fried rabbit.  It is still on my list to visit for food, but this time around we just had a drink. Beagle has separate archways for the restaurant and the bar, similar to Ev near Waterloo which is one of my favourite spots in London.  I grabbed a pint of Pale Ale from the new Redwell brewery, and headed back out to the pleasant front garden.  The local draught beer selection is excellent, and the cocktail list is refreshingly original.  They also open bright and early with a tiny coffee shop at 7am, making use of beans from Hackney locals, Climpsons and Sons.

We moved on, and popped our heads in to the Red Lion pub to check out their roof terrace.  It's a lovely little spot, just far enough away from the Hoxton Square crowd.  Well worth a look, especially for £2.90 pints on Mondays!

We were in need of some speedy grub before Snarky Puppy, so we wandered over to Hoxton Square to survey the options.  I was tempted by another trip to the wonderful Meat Mission (read more here), we decided to try out Red Dog Saloon since it was on The List.  Red Dog Saloon is an "Authentic American BBQ", housed in an attractive and well placed space on the corner Hoxton Square.  We sat at the bar as there weren't any tables free, but it's arguably the best place to sit anyway as you always get great service from barstaff.  We quickly munched our way through some tasty pulled pork buns with Magaritas and Schooners of Samuel Adams on the side.  The award winning hickory smoked ribs also looked wonderful as they went past.  For the brave and hungry, there is The Devastator Challenge - three 6oz patties, 200g pulled pork, 6 rashers of Applewood Smoked bacon, and 6 slices of American cheese in a bun with all the trimmings, plus coleslaw, chips and a milkshake on the side, all of which needs to be devoured in 10 minutes. Anyone managed that yet?

The Devastator Burger

The service was noticeably better than most other places I have been, which is impressive as it is always busy there.  Full up, we moved on to our last stop - the quirky pub / gig venue The Macbeth on Hoxton Street to see Snarky Puppy, who I mentioned in my previous Notting Hill post.  It was absolutely rammed so we settled in for a sweaty evening - I recommend grabbing a place at the back end of the bar where you can see everything, and get served quickly, though be prepared to take some drinks orders for people you don't know!  The drinks are fairly standard, though there are frozen magaritas on offer.  The decor and layout are pretty nutty - halfway up the stairs is another good vantage point!  Most importantly, the sound quality and atmosphere are top notch, and as a result The Macbeth constantly attracts popular bands across all genres who want to give their fans a close-up, authentic live music experience.  Keep an eye on what's on and try it out!

Cassie gets 3 more List points for our Hoxton jaunt, whilst Maggie and Harriet pick up the other points mentioned above.  I'll leave you once again in the capable hands of Snarky Puppy - enjoy!