If you’ve always thought that sipping cocktails while surrounded by owls sounded like a hoot, this is the news you’ve been waiting for. For a week next month London will get an owl bar, putting the likes of cat, cereal and porridge cafés well and truly in the shade.
The bar will run in an as yet undisclosed Soho location (Beak Street?) from 19-25 March, under the name Annie The Owl. If you choose to visit, headliner Annie will be one of your cocktail companions, along with her feathery friends Cinders, Darwin, Hootie, Ruby and Winston.
We spoke to Seb, who is the main protagonist behind the pop-up. Before this he’s worked organising private events in the capital and he also runs vintage nights as part of Coco London:
“I’m half Japanese and have visited an owl café in Tokyo and really enjoyed it. I thought that it would be really cool to bring one to London.”
It’s no wise crack. Him and his crew have partnered with start-up app company Locappy (its logo is an owl) to fund the clever bird pop-up and are working with The Barn Owl Centre in Gloucestershire to run it — all profits will also go to this owl charity.
The bar’s opening hours are built around the birds, and will no doubt please London’s human night owls too. Annie will be serving between 8.30pm and 2am throughout the week.
Given how popular the event is expected to be, a ballot system is operating. Sign up now — don’t get in a flap, though — to be in with a chance of being allocated up to four tickets, which cost £20 each and include two cocktails plus two hours with the owls.
We’re not sure what will be on the cocktail list, but reckon an Owld Fashioned might make the cut. And do feel free to insert any more owlful puns in the comments below...
Also see the latest development:
In A Flap: Soho’s Owl Bar Loses Cocktails And Charity Amid Welfare Concerns