The duo behind the Indian-inspired restaurant group will open SOMA, a bar named after the Hindu moon god, serving drinks influenced by the Indian subcontinent and its neighbouring countries.
The stripped-back basement bar is described as being a modern and minimalistic take on a speakeasy and will open on a site adjacent to Kricket’s Denman Street restaurant. It will have a late night licence until 3am Tuesday to Saturday.
The drinks menu is being put together by Kricket’s head of beverage Will Rogers and SOMA Bar Manager, Angelos Bafas, previously of Aqua Shard and ranking in collaboration with Zoe Burgess from Atelier Pip. SOMA will serve familiar cocktails with a twist inspired by the diverse flavours found across Indian cultures and beyond, including a goosebery chaat margarita, a coconut and jaggery old fashioned, and a pickled mooli martini.
The bar will also serve a short menu of Indian-accented snacks such as homemade crackers, made using leftover rice from the restaurants, served with a yoghurt dip.
The 23-cover venue will feature a nine-metre long stainless steel bar and have indigo coloured walls with a complementary colour palette of purple, saffron and pink, with an adjacent lounge room that can be converted into a private area.
“It feels great to be emerging from such a challenging period with a project that we’re so excited about,” say the pair. “Central to Kricket’s growth over the last six years has been making sure that each restaurant is unique and perfectly suited to its location.
“In many ways our vision for SOMA was driven by its address. People have always loved the cocktails we offer at Kricket and we’ve always talked about launching
a standalone bar, but it’s the space that gives SOMA its modern speakeasy feel, with a backstreet underground setting in Soho and seemingly non descript entrance.
We see SOMA as the latest addition to people’s Soho ‘stumblings’ and we can’t wait to offer the hospitality we’ve become known for at Kricket in a new context.
Bowlby and Campbell launched Kricket as a pop-up restaurant in a shipping container at Pop Brixton and has since launched three permanent Kricket sites in the capital in Brixton, Soho and White City.