Kansas Smitty's Bar

Whilst I've loved powering through my enormous London food, drink and fun to-do list since early 2013, my favourite posts are usually related to three ongoing stories:

- Paul & Jack (Anspach & Hobday) graduating from homebrewers to Bermondsey pros

- Joel Braham (The Good Egg) getting closer to his dream of opening a bricks and mortar restaurant

- The continued rise of the incredibly talented Kansas Smitty's on the London scene

Coincidentally, the first two also have musical backgrounds which ties this all together nicely. I first met Blues Brothers Banned trumpeter turned chef Joel on a jazz band tour to Rotterdam; and Paul & Jack may not have become Anspach & Hobday had they found success with Great Dover Street Productions - bit of a reach that one. Anyway, today I'm here to talk about Kansas Smitty's. 

"Putting the danger back in jazz"

I first become aware of them early last year after meeting band leader Giacomo Smith (sax / clarinet) at a gig at Battersea's hidden gem Le Quecumbar. Since then, I've seen them countless times, both as Smitty's Big Four and the full House Band, all over London, from The Dolls House to Ronnie Scott's.

"While the House Band draws its main inspiration from Count Basie’s hard swinging late night jam sessions in 1930s Kansas City, the Big Four is interested in the music of Sidney Bechet and the upbeat swing of New Orleans."

No two shows are ever the same, though the music making is always exceptional.  If there's a tighter swing band currently playing on the London circuit, I'd like to hear them.  Mad Mardi Gras gigs at The Vaults have been known to end with an impromptu victory lap around Waterloo Station, and alongside all of the live shows, an LP has been recorded and is awaiting release later this year.  But the Smitty's have always had their eyes on a bigger prize - their own bar.  

A magical, immersive Backyard BBQ event in Dalston last April proved that they were all over it on the Southern States food & drink front too, and a year later they finally unveiled the Kansas Smitty's Bar underneath Off Broadway on Broadway Market.

Their stripped back basement bar is now open for live jazz and juleps from Tuesday-Sunday, 6pm-midnight, with special "Basement Tapes" ticketed gigs every Wednesday featuring a different Smitty. You can't go wrong, from trumpeter & vocalist "Sweet" Pete Horsfall ("a cross between Billie Holiday and Tony Bennet") to multi-talented, dynamic percussionist Pedro Segundo.

Giacomo & Jack - Gentlemen of Jazz

Joe Webb's Piano

Dave Archer's Gibson

Dave Archer's Gibson

Now these juleps. In quite a coup, Milk & Honey bartender Sean Fennelly was brought in to set things in motion, and he's organised an 8-strong £8 julep jamboree ranging from the Smitty's Julep (Bourbon, Amaro Bitters, Raisin, Peach, Cassia Bark & Mint) to the Jesuit's Bark Julep (Rum, Clove, Pimento, Lime and Grapefruit Peel, Quinine Cordial & Mint).

The booze & botanicals are pre-mixed and left to blend in traditional julep fashion, before being poured over fresh mint and ice.  Bartenders just need to "clap that mint" first and your drink is good to go.

There's something for everyone on the list, but I'd recommend the Morning Joe-lep (Bourbon, Coffee Bean, Stem Ginger, Cardamom, Cocoa Nibs & Bitter Orange Marmalade) or the Sleepytime Julep (Scotch Whisky, Chamomile, Pink Peppercorn, Raspberry, Lemon Peel & Mint).  

If you want to save a few coins, you can stick to house wine and beers (currently New Orleans Dixie Beer with more local brews on the way).  Food is restricted to Giacomo's nuts at the moment, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Most importantly though, it's a great venue for live music, with excellent acoustics and no need for amplification; and crucially, it means I always know where to go if I need a Kansas Smitty's fix, and so do you.  Get down there and support some of London's finest musicians, and don't forget your dancing shoes!

Tuba-man Theon Cross

Giacomo & "Sweet" Pete on the front line

Kansas Smitty's Bar is open 6pm-midnight, Tues - Sun, 63-65 Broadway Market, E8 4PH

Click here to book tickets for Wednesday night "Basement Tapes" gigs

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Latest photos on Matt The Tumblr:

Summer Tales / Indian Ocean Islands Menu at Babur / 2010 Masterchef Winner Dhruv Baker at The Jolly Gardeners / Park Road Kitchen / Fu Manchu

Craft Beer Rising 2015 - Sutton & Sons - The Dolls House

Thursday 19th February -  c.12 hours in the life of Matt The List:

Short version (click on times below to whizz down to photos):

2pm-5pm : Couple of beers at Craft Beer Rising on Brick Lane

5pm-7pm : Fishcakes and #NationalChipWeek at the new Sutton & Sons in Box Park

7pm-2am : Negronis and Jazz at The Dolls House new site in Islington

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Long version:

1pm - Leave flat in Battersea. Pop in to my local rotisserie and deli Park Road Kitchen for all the salt beef, spinach & ricotta tarts, and a kale, chickpea & sumac salad. Sorted. I eat here pretty much every day. So should you.

1.30pm - Smugly eat food on the train - definitely better than everyone else's. Beat high score on 2 Cars. Day is shaping up nicely.

 

2pm - Arrive at trade session of Craft Beer Rising in the Old Truman Brewery.  Start working way round room full of 80+ breweries and 500+ beers under the pretence of choosing beers for The Good Egg with founder Joel Braham.

2.15pm - Discover New Zealand.  Fantastic beers across the board from Tuatara, Renaissance, 8 Wired, Three Boys, and Yeastie Boys.  Looking forward to seeing them around.

2.30pm - Still at New Zealand stand. In the words of Jeff Goldblum - must go faster.

2.45pm - Say hello to Mondo Brewing, a brand new brewery coming soon to Battersea (hooray!). Beers are promising and it sounds like they will have a great setup. Pop over to the Ilkley stand for some more top beers including Siberia Rhubarb Saison and Hickory Redcap Pecan Porter. Apparently a collaboration with Yeastie Boys is on the way.

3pm - One hour down, time for bed....lam.  Bedlam Brewery - a new brewery from the folk behind The Bull in Ditchling.  Joel is whipping out his business cards.  They're massive.

3.15pm - Time for some familiar faces at London-based Fourpure and Beavertown stalls.  Enjoy the Transatlantic Overdrive IPA collab between Fourpure & Bear Republic, and 2.8% Londonerweisse collab from Beavertown and Dogfish Head.  I think the bloke from Mondo Brewing is following us.

3.30pm - Yep, he's definitely following us.  Nice guy though, so it's OK.  Why are we in a queue? Ah yes, Wild Beer Co.. Great beers on offer including Beyond Modus, a more complicated version of the superb Modus Hoperandi.  Must buy some - or be bought some.  Anyone reading? Birthday soon. Friendly Harbour Brewing at the same stall - too early for an 8.7% Imperial Chocolate and Vanilla Stout? Nah.

Here There Be Flagons

3.45pm - Flying visits to Thornbridge from Peak District, Bad Seed Brewery from North Yorkshire, and Franciscan Well from Ireland. Joel seems to know a lot about Cork - bit out of my depth.

4pm - Meet Alex from Yelp for a "business meeting". On the home straight - well, except for the entire other room we haven't made it into. Pop over to Redwell for India Pale Lager.

Helping choose beers for @TheGoodEgg_ with @MattTheList at @craftbeerriseuk. And by choose, I mean drink all of them. pic.twitter.com/GxnlRHzEVj

— Alex S (Yelp!) (@yelplondon) February 19, 2015

4.30pm - Last orders called - thought there was half an hour left? Blessing in (thinly veiled) disguise. Settle next to Beer Cat (short for Catalunya) to finish.  Impressive beer brewed by a Dubliner, a South Londoner and a Mancunian. In Spain.

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5pm - Park Road Kitchen is beginning to wear off - definitely time for dinner. We part ways with Mr.Yelp and head to new Sutton & Sons site in Box Park.  Danny Sutton established the Sutton & Sons fishmongers on Stoke Newington High Street back in 1998 before opening their fish and chip shop there in 2010, don't cha know?

5.15pm - Joel and I are welcomed by Matt, the friendly ex-navy front of house who is coping well with the concept of shipping containers being used for restaurants.  It's National Chip Week, so we're feeling pretty on trend.  We tuck in to a Hackney Brewery American Pale Ale whilst Matt gets Mikey in the kitchen to rustle us up some food.

5.30pm - A mixed plate of Whitebait, Calamari and Fishcakes hits the spot.  The fishcakes are absolutely sublime.  Best in London? Any thoughts?

6pm - Box Park attempts to set the mood with some dreadful live music.  We drown it out with delicious Cod Goujons, a Cod Burger, and some #NationalChipWeek chips.  All the food is rather excellent.  Must return for some Catch of the Day specials - Lobster Subs, Sea Bass, Tuna Burgers, Moules Mariniere; that kind of thing.

6.15pm - Joel's turn to attempt a "business meeting", possibly legitimate.  Appears to be going well - I decide to leave them to it and head off to The Dolls House.  Firm handshake with Matt - top bloke, solid name.

Business Meeting

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7pm - Slow progress on the 43 along City Road.  Did I really get that score on 2 Cars earlier? Can't be right. Quick look at photos so far.  That one of the fishcake is alright.

7.15pm - Meet Islington local Cath outside The Dolls House on Upper Street, the latest hand-drawn hangout from Adam Towner and Katy Gray Rosewarne, set over three floors that used to belong to House of Wolf.  We head through the ground floor Parlour, up to the first floor Library and Drawing Room for Negronis, Old Fashioneds and Espresso Martinis.  Antica Formula is greatly appreciated.

8pm - The house starts to fill up with familiar faces.  We check out the top floor Ballroom which starts the evening as a dining room before becoming a private members bar.  Membership seems achievable - just need to bring them some premium booze from their wishlist.  I've got some Tesco's own brand gin knocking around somewhere - that should do it.  Otherwise it's £5 after 10pm for me. A nice fellow comes round with an inadequate number of steak canapés - he's disappointed with himself.

10pm - Ground floor Parlour is looking a bit busy.  Chap behind the bar has definitely served me in three different Dead Dolls Club establishments already.  I imagine I shall be seeing him in Peckham - opening on 1st April apparently.  We retreat to The Library, our preferred candlelit cosy.  Ceiling is leaking - quite endearing. Stripy red & black shirt bartender needs to pass on secret of stirring drinks quietly to stripy black & white shirt bartender.  This is a Library! Steak canapé guy has seriously upped his game by the way.

11pm - Kansas Smittys are In The (Dolls) House! Swing music ensues, occasionally in key with a fire alarm.  Giacomo asks the fire alarm to stop playing over their solos.  Steak canapé guy has switched over to miniature rhubarb crumbles - less interested.

2am - IT'S 2AM! What?! Oh dear. Officially Mum The List's birthday. Call her now? Probably not, it can wait. Could get Kansas Smittys to play "Happy Birthday" though? No. N19 bus is here; goes all the way home - ideal.  Time for a last go at 2 Cars and some decisive photo editing.  Should be a nice photo of a Negroni in there somewhere, I took enough of them.  OK, I seem to have taken a video of a Negroni too.  The wall is moving isn't it?

3am - Nap The List. Big day tomorrow.

Death by Burrito - Galapagos Foods - The Orange - Waterloo Vaults - Spices

Saturday 1st March - The first day of March brought the sun out of its hiding place, just in time for a couple of outdoor brewery events which I popped along to.  First up, my local brewery Sambrooks launched a new Archer Mild Ale at their Spring Zing event, with live music, jerk chicken & Ginger Pig sausage rolls.  Their next brewery party is "Bring Back Lavender Hill" on 31st May.

I then made my way over to Bermondsey, which seems to happen almost every Saturday, to see how the Anspach & Hobday brewery launch was going.  They are the 5th brewery to join the Bermondsey Beer Mile, and have something slightly different to offer with their Smoked Brown beer.  You can read more about their core beers in a previous post here.

It was absolutely rammed when we arrived, with punters going mad for the beer & food pairing - O'Shea smoked brown ale sausages, a miniature curry to go with the IPA, and a deconstructed porter (chocolate, hot coffee and fruit cake) + beer tasters for only £5.  Beers were starting to run out but luckily Bullfinch Brewery uses the space to brew as well, and his Dapper & USA IPA bottles were doing a roaring trade - watch out for his Citrageddon coming soon.  

A&H are about to launch their fourth beer, a Table Porter, which will be sub 3% ABV I believe.  They are also doing a one off small brew most weeks on a home-brew kit, taking suggestions from the public - Paul was working hard on a Black IPA during the launch.

I normally hop from place to place using all of the optimisation skills I acquired during my Maths degree, but Dr.Gog would not have approved of my Battersea to Bermondsey to Battersea route on this occasion.  My final stop of the evening was my lovely local pub, The Candlemaker, to try out their exciting new food menu from Death by Burrito.

Death by Burrito were stationed in Catch Bar in Shoreditch for most of last year and built up quite a name for themselves, so I'm delighted that they have been tempted down to "Sarf Landan".  Within a week of the residency being announced, The Candlemaker made it on to newsletters from London Popups & The Nudge, so the benefits of having someone else do the cooking are pretty clear!

Alongside their classic burritos & tacos, they have brought in the awesome DBB Burger with candied bacon & pickled jalapenos - it was so good I went back again the next day!  The Mex fries with chipotle ketchup and Guacamole & chips are not to be missed either.  They also have a pretty special Sunday menu with the likes of 28 Day Aged Beef Forerib and Chipotle Baby Back Ribs.

Death By Burrito Burger & 28 Day Aged Beef Forerib at The Candlemaker

It is well worth the journey over to Clapham Junction, especially as the pub itself is fantastic, but you can also currently catch Death by Burrito in Soho at the bonkers looking DunneFrankowski Barbers & Coffee Shop.

The only thing missing was pudding.  Luckily, across the road is a charming little restaurant called Galapagos Foods run by a lovely husband & wife team.  They have 9 desserts listed (£5 each) but the Elaine says there are often more not on the menu.  We knew we were in the right place when we were told - "I'm afraid we don't have any apple crumble, we only have rhubarb, plum and ginger today" and "We only have two types of bread & butter pudding this evening". Outrageous.

Elaine & Steeve Del Castello used to run Galapagos Foods as a deli (you can still buy items from the shelves), but decided to change to a restaurant after the arrival of Tescos & Sainsburys.  I'm going to return soon in greater number for the full restaurant experience - I can imagine it might be the kind of place where the shutters come down and the wine flows til late if they like the look of the clientele!  Stay tuned for a full review in the near future.

Tuesday 25th February - A few days earlier I was invited over to The Orange Public House & Hotel in Sloane Square for some Sacred cocktails.  The Orange is part of the Cubitt House family that also includes The Grazing Goat, The Pantechnicon and The Thomas Cubitt.  Both The Orange and The Grazing Goat operate as hotels as well as pubs / bars / restaurants.

Much like Le Quecumbar that I wrote about recently, The Orange lets you escape to France without the Eurostar fare.  I had a lovely ramble around the many beautiful bar & restaurant rooms set over two floors.

We were well looked after on the food & drink front with superb canapés and three cocktails presented by Ian Hart & Hilary Whitney, the Sacred Spirits co-founders.  Initially, Sacred was just going to be a Gin distillery, but they now also make Vodkas and Vermouth.  All of their distilling takes place in their Highgate home and they are currently the only Londoners using the vacuum distilling method.  

The classic Sacred Gin has 12 botanicals, but they are also soon launching a wider range of botanical gins including Cardamom, Pink Grapefruit, Orris, Juniper, Coriander and Licorice.

A Gin Gimlet was the perfect refreshing start (I must confess, I had more than one of these).  The Pink Rosehip 75 with Sacred Vermouth divided opinions, but as a Negroni lover I was a big fan.  The final Cardamom Gin & Tonic was very popular, and gives Opihr Gin something to think about.

Thanks to Saskia & co. at The Orange & Sacred for their hospitality & generosity, and to Chris (Triptease) & Ella (Little Brown Books) for the company!

I couldn't tempt Chris & Ella over to Waterloo for another drink, but luckily I had plenty of backup from Team List regulars Sam, Jen, Taro, Caroline, Lee & Jane.  We went along to see the awesome Kansas Smittys dish out some free jazz at Waterloo Vaults, headed up by band leader Giacomo Smith on Alto Sax & Clarinet.  

The Vaults is a great little venue tucked away beneath Waterloo Station.  It is pretty rough around the edges, and happily reminds of some of the Underbelly rooms at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Check the website to see what shows are on, or just rock up at the bar - I was pleasantly surprised to find they had Hackney Brewery beer available!

Kansas Smittys are ones to watch in London.  They had a Mardi Gras party at the Vaults last week that involved a parade & victory lap around Waterloo Station, and they are lining up great things for Kansas Smittys Backyard BBQ and Single Launch on April 18th - save the date.  You can also catch them at Ronnie Scott's Late, Late Show on March 28th & 29th.

One more place? Go on then. It's Friday after all.

Wednesday 26th February - I've been meaning to mention Spices on Chapel Market for a long time - my favourite curry house in London.  There are probably curry houses serving better food out there, but none will come close on the service front. 

Don't be put off by the wonderfully tacky exterior, and don't forget to BYOB - there's an off-license over the road.  They label your drinks, put them in the fridge, and bring them out for you when you want them - no corkage.

Ali is in charge of taking orders. "What taste do you want in your mouth" is his opening gambit.  Using his own system of flavours and a 1-10 spice range, he cheerfully advises you on what to pick from the menu.  Your choices will be met with comical comments - "Ooh, very nice. That's a good one", "Ah, jawbreaker!".  If you like the sound of more than one of the sauces, they can combine up to 7 dishes in one, known as 7th heaven.

Ali makes it very clear that there is a 3 minute rule - if you don't like your sauce, you can give it back no problem and they will make you up something totally different.  One time, my friend picked out all of her onion pieces which led Ali to say "Why didn't you just ask for no onion? Then I would still have an onion!".  He promptly went away and made her a fresh sauce with no onions. Everyone is encouraged to try all of the sauces, and I ended up sharing on my last visit after becoming quite attached to someone else's curry.  

There are several fun places to drink before and after nearby including The Lexington for tonnes of Whiskey, American beers and live music, Craft Beer Co for incredible beers, and the new Joker of Penton Street pub (same owners as Candlemaker) which has just announced a Tongue'n'Cheek food residency.  Their Italian Sunday Roast sounds pretty great.

Right, that's enough.  Anyone make it this far? Didn't think so.