Bristol boasts a number of hush-hush cocktail bars but a new one opening this week may just be the best-kept secret of the lot.
The Library on St Nicholas Street is so hidden that it doesn’t even look like a cocktail bar - in fact, the front of the building is disguised as an antique bookshop.
It’s the latest venture from husband and wife team Adam Bryan and Zowie Yip, who also own the Mugshot steak restaurant a few doors down St Nicholas Street.
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The Library occupies the site that was previously the Roots Lounge restaurant although for many years before that it was the well-known Guy Fawkes hairdressing salon.
The well disguised new cocktail bar will have a similar 1920s Peaky Blinders feel as Mugshot and will be used predominantly as a private lounge for restaurant diners for drinks before and after their meal.
Drinkers who aren’t dining at Mughsot will also be able to book in if there’s space.
The bar, which will be accessed through a bookcase, will serve ‘high-end style canapé dishes’ alongside the range of cocktails each evening - and will operate as a tearoom during the daytime.
The owners have also applied for a licence to host live music at The Library, which will feature shelves laden with hardback books.
Visitors will have to ring a buzzer to be let in and there will be a distillery in the basement, with gin being produced for the bar upstairs.
The couple have taken eight months to rebuild and refurbish the venue, which will feature an abundance of brass and antique furnishings.
It’s the first bar the couple have launched and they say they want to open more in other cities in the future.
Prior to running Mugshot, Adam was an electrician and Zowie worked in fashion retail.
The Library at 6-8 St Nicholas Street will open on Friday.
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