I’m here for drinks but the glazed racks look especially good, I have to say. Here I am at The Dukes honky tonk bar in Highgate, a riff on the bourbon-soaked southern states where cowboy boots thud to the sound of banjos and yee-haws. Barbecue is about to have a moment in London, let me tell you, propelled in part by the sudden and mostly applauded arrival of Interstellar, the Michelin-starred grill concept from Texas that was at The Ned for a time.
The Dukes is less of a media-hyped scene. Though I don’t mean to do the place a disservice. To that end it’s expedient, a longer-standing locale for Londoners who wish to enjoy the plucky brashness of Tennessee and beyond. It’s full of smoky barbecue, silly cocktails and big hats. But the whole reason anyone goes is the music: there are regular country jam sessions, open mic nights; this week Drew Dixon flew in from Nashville to accompany those on the tequila shots and Texas mules (like the Moscow version but with peach liqueur). The music is merited.
I thought of Nashville while there. A visit with Uncle Nearest whiskey two years ago proved to be a baptism of fire in line dancing and moonshine. One night out became so dangerous that the indefatigable drinkers among our party went to the same bar twice, thinking they’d visited two. Of all of America’s culture, the glitz of new-era cowboy hollering might be the most unchallenging to transpose. I mean who doesn’t want to listen to Dolly Parton while sinking two or three mezcal margaritas? Else a pickleback (a shot of whiskey before pickle juice) or a tickleback (the same but with tequila). Why not do it all — that’d give you the cojones to dance, maybe even sing. The Dukes requires an open mind. Call it contrived and you’re nothing but a bore. It’s our very own Deep South pastiche in which to revel. All you need to do is find some boots.
16 Highgate High Street N6 5JG, thedukesofhighgate.co.uk
Bar snacks
Aldi’s champagne
Nationwide, aldi.co.uk
Figures show the UK champagne market is at a 40-year low, sales declining by 7.2 per cent in 2024. Enter budget options from supermarkets like Aldi. Its Veuve (yes, another unsubtle rip-off) Monsigny premier cru is £22.99 a bottle and scooping plenty of accolades. It was just awarded gold in the Decanter World Wine Awards, while Which? magazine named it their best this year. Get in now before everyone cottons on and we end up with another Cremant du Jura on our hands.
Field Notes
143 Mare Street, E8, fieldnotes.uk
Ivan Tisdall-Downes, co-founder of Native, is back with a new bar concept called Field Notes in London Fields. The wine bar and restaurant will feature dishes inspired by his travels, with a focus on sustainability, very much the chef’s calling card. Influenced by the likes of River Cottage in Devon, wines will be low intervention, cocktails full of botanicals and dishes — ever-changing — will include the likes of brown crab tikka masala and pickled cockle flatbreads. Opens October 22.
