In the last couple of years it’s seen two fitness studios, a smash hit BBQ smokehouse, a BYOB Caribbean, two taprooms and two stylish bars. And now – drumroll – Leyton Midland is about to get its first cosy pub. It goes by the quirky name of Chop Shop Tavern.
Owner Danny Saunders – yep, he of Leyton Calling cocktail bar fame – is the brains behind the new Tilbury Road venture. I popped by earlier this week to get the lowdown on what might just be Leyton’s most seductive new spot to while away the winter. If in doubt, think the Sun Tavern in Bethnal Green as reference point: expect candles and cosy corners aplenty.
Chop Shop Tavern was still far from finished when Danny gave me a tour on a freezing cold Tuesday afternoon, but first impressions are that the interior will look pretty darn gorgeous.
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A small paint-splattered team were hard at work staining used scaffold boards dark to create vintage panelling with, on either side of the bar area, dimly lit intimate booths.
Real candles – not tea lights – will flicker in the crepuscular light, and there’ll be a few interior surprises which the team want you to gasp at yourselves when you visit. The front entrance is going to be “reclaimed wood with doors and windows in it as it used to be back in the day,” he says. “And then in the summer, we’ll have it fully open.”
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Regular readers may remember Danny was brought up in Leyton. “My dad used to own this stretch of arches, which were all car-repair units”, much like the top of Midland Road remains. When Danny happened to park up here early last year and saw one To Let, he “couldn’t resist.” And that, of course, became Leyton Calling.
Chop Shop Tavern is even more personal. “The name is a term for a garage where cars used to be taken and chopped up. And this one was my actual arch – I set my first business doing cars here at the age of 16. So when it came up to let late last year, I couldn’t resist, even though I’d just opened the cocktail bar.”
Unlike Leyton Calling, the vibes will be pure pub, but with a later license (2am, woop) and no waiter service – you’ll simply have to queue at the bar, as you would at any watering hole. There’ll be six taps for locally sourced craft beers, as well as wines and cocktails, a simpler list than the more elevated ones at the sister bar. And food is not a priority, although there will be pop-ups down the line.
“I’ve got a massive connection with this road, so I think this new venture, along with Swirl and the other bars, will really put Tilbury road on the map,” he says. Follow @chopshoptavern; it opens second week in Feb.
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