BARS • First Round
My companion and I share a slightly bemused look as we arrive at The Dreamery, a minute overspill bar for Goodbye Horses that opened late last year and (much in the model of Paris’s famed Folderol) exclusively offers wine and ice cream.
A scattering of Lime bikes makes it clear we’re in the right place despite the quiet street. Only the multicoloured slats above the door of an otherwise plain exterior hint at what awaits. Inside, the ceiling is a colourful mural fit for a French Impressionism exhibition. Mirrors are everywhere – on the ice cream coupes, glinting along the bar and down the walls. For a minute, we don’t know where to look.
Having jostled for space at the bar, and having agreed not to break each other’s gaze so as to avoid the mirrors’ distracting glint, we turn our attention to ordering. The ice cream list, devised by Goodbye Horses head chef Jack Coggins, successfully unites classic and original flavour combinations (mint choc chip; oolong and prune).
There’s no wine list, but discussing with the bar staff and tasting before you choose is encouraged. I settle on a glass of organic Catalonian skin-contact white; it’s floral, vibrant and juicy, but perhaps a little sweet in combination with my pear and verjus sorbet. No matter, The Dreamery has electrified a sleepy De Beauvoir corner. –Sophie Duval
→ The Dreamery (De Beauvoir) • 20a Halliford St • Wed-Sun 12-10p • Walk-ins only.