Bar Vita

Ruth Leigh and Oli Brown do not lack when it comes to creative ambition – their new 30-guest bar, nestled within their hotel-cum-restaurant Updown Farmhouse, demonstrates this in spades. Launching in late January this watering hole takes inspiration from Roman bars, with marble, lacquered wood and banquette seating transporting consumers from this Kent farmstead to the Eternal City. Constructed in one of Updown’s former stable blocks, the classic feel does not end with the interiors. The bar will be tended by cream jacket-adorned staff, while serves will pay homage to Italian mixology. Frigid Martinis, Fig Leaf Negronis and Shakeratos will start many a night with a digestivo of grappa likely to follow. Summer will see a 20-guest terrace open, allowing patrons to take in Updown’s ancient woodland surroundings.