Artistic licence

Remy Savage shakes up the world of cocktail-making at his Bauhaus-inspired bar enterprise in east London

- NEIL RIDLEY

Remy Savage is very much the mixologist of the moment. He began honing his skills at the Little Red Door in Paris – the bar that first set his artistic vision on its swift upward trajectory – before leaping into the London scene in 2017, becoming head bartender at The Langham hotel’s much-lauded Artesian.

Savage’s next move was to create three new conceptual, art movement-inspired bars and bistros: Nouveau in Paris, Abstract in Lyon, and arguably his most groundbreaking so far: London’s A Bar with Shapes for a Name (symbolised by a yellow triangle, a red square and a blue circle), a Bauhaus-inspired experience based purely around functionalism and minimalism. Everything about Shapes is a masterclass in expertly measured simplicity: from the lack of branding on show to the colour-coordinated staff uniforms and utilitarian furniture and fittings. ‘I come from an art history and philosophy background,’ says Savage. ‘The idea is to see how we can use a bar’s atmosphere to talk about art in a non-intrusive way. So everything – the design, drinks, uniform, service, opening hours, price – has to be based on a problem artists were trying to solve.’