A new cocktail bar, cato, is set to open in Covent Garden on Friday, the 6th of February, bringing a drinks concept focused on British spirits, fresh ingredients and ingredient-led cocktails to Seven Dials.

The bar is a new project from hospitality group Bart & Taylor, developed in collaboration with award-winning bartender and author Angelos Bafas. Named after Cato Alexander – widely regarded as the world’s first celebrity bartender – the venue draws on historical reference without positioning itself as a heritage concept. Instead, the focus is firmly on contemporary cocktail-making, with an emphasis on sourcing, seasonality and clarity.

A multi-level venue in Seven Dials

cato occupies a multi-level space, with the venue arranged across three distinct areas. Each space supports a different part of the bar’s overall offering, from lighter, accessible serves through to the main cocktail programme and experimental work.

On the ground floor, The House of Julep serves as the main entry point to the bar. As the name suggests, this part of the venue centres on the julep cocktail – a drink Cato Alexander helped popularise in the 19th century. The menu here focuses on fresh, herb-led drinks, designed to be straightforward and approachable.

The lower level houses cato’s main cocktail menu and provides a more intimate setting for the bar’s core drinks offering. This space is designed around slower service and greater attention to detail, allowing the drinks programme to take centre stage.

Completing the venue is the Study, a communal table space that will be used for masterclasses, pop-ups and experimental serves. This area will host sessions led by the cato team, offering a platform for development, collaboration and new ideas.

Ingredient-led approach and sourcing

Ingredients play a central role in shaping cato’s menus and day-to-day operations. A key feature of the bar is its in-house growing system, which supplies many of the herbs used across the drinks programme, including mint.

Beyond this, additional ingredients are sourced from urban allotments and small family-run farms. The team’s longer-term ambition is for cato to become self-sufficient when it comes to herbs and fruit, supporting a menu built around seasonal British produce. This sourcing model informs both the flavour profiles of the cocktails and the way they are constructed, with a focus on minimal intervention and clear expression of ingredients.

The cocktail programme

The bar’s main cocktail menu, titled Colour Has Flavour, explores the relationship between colour, flavour, aroma and texture. While inspired by synaesthesia – a phenomenon in which senses overlap – the structure of the menu is intentionally simple.

The list comprises fourteen cocktails, divided across seven colours. Each drink is named after its two defining ingredients, offering a direct description of what to expect. All cocktails on the menu are made using exclusively British spirits and produce, interpreted through a broader, global perspective.

Among the signature serves is:

• BROWN (Medlar + Mushroom), which blends Scotch whiskies with foraged medlar, mushroom spirit, brown vermouth, fermented wild mushrooms and smoked Cornish tea.
• GREEN (Jalapeño + Shiso) combines pod pea vodka with Norfolk shiso, South Devon jalapeño liqueur, dry vermouth and gooseberry brine.
• YELLOW (Chamomile + Sweet Clover) brings together chamomile spirit, foraged sweet clover, yellow jun and dried meadowsweet, and is available in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions.

Food offering

Alongside the drinks, cato will offer an array of American classics. Dishes include fried oysters – a reference to the original cato’s Tavern – as well as burgers and toasties. The food offering is designed to complement the drinks menu, providing familiar, indulgent options that sit comfortably alongside the cocktail programme.

Key details

• Opening date: 6th of February
• Address: 17 Mercer Street, London WC2H
• Website: catobar.co.uk
• Socials: @catocoventgarden

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