Where in London can you play pool for free? Hardly anywhere. So I am loath to share this information because the pool table I’ve discovered is more dormant than it should be — a white-edged, blue carpeted affair, situated against gaping glass windows that look out onto Coldharbour Lane in Brixton.
This is SideChick, restaurateur April Jackson’s latest project, where the focus is on cocktails and the vibe is homely. You might have heard of Jackson. She’s a former Miss Jamaica, once an Apprentice star. She’s said to have dated Usain Bolt for a time. These days Jackson is building something of an empire in SW9, where she operates Wood and Water, a “modern British restaurant with a Jamaican soul”, and ABV, a cocktail bar in the shipping container world of Pop Brixton. SideChick is more upmarket.
The name, she says, comes from a friend who mentioned he had a “five-year side chick”. Hardly good news for the main event in question, but the bar itself is, with its agreeable list of cocktails. I find it difficult to deviate from the Penicillin, which blends Scotch, honey, ginger and lemon and was conceived by the Australian bartender Sam Ross while he was mixing purposefully in New York. The name, unsurprisingly, is a nod to the drug, given the drink’s ability to combat the debilitating effects of a cold — or so some, including my mother, would have you believe. Whatever, it does the job on the inebriation front, and it is joined by a list of Daiquiris, Martinis and less charted creations. The Portmore sees rum matched with coffee and coconut, while the Floradora is a careful combination of gin, lime, raspberry and ginger ale.
The drinks will change from time to time. Right now the list is largely refreshing and fun — nothing is earnest or cloying, rather the makings of a bar to jump into and whimsically enjoy. The decor? Velvet seating sits atop an untouched pebble-stone floor. There are feathers, tassels and pearls. I really like it — a bar without a dominant concept. Just a bar. One where if you need the classics, they will mostly be fulfilled, and if you need something to eat, the snacks are inviting.
There is an ever-present conversation in London. One of gentrification, fabrication, evolution. SideChick is a good use of a former eel and pie shop. I do not know the complexities of the capital’s shapeshifting, but I do know that SideChick has the makings of a happy arena in one of its best neighbourhoods. A dose of Penicillin and a game or two of pool is hard to beat, after all.
