At this east London listening bar, mezcal-fuelled cocktails hit as hard as the basslines

Cocktail collabs are hot in the drinks world, but London bar Little Fires is heating things up further by partnering with Oaxaca’s acclaimed Sabina Sabe (number 22 on North America’s 50 Best Bars list) and serving a food menu overseen by Rodolfo Castellanos, winner of Top Chef Mexico and chef-owner of Origen Oaxaca. The London names behind the project are worth dropping, too: Milanese-turned-Mexican food enthusiast Christian Pecoraro, Berlin electro scenester Florian Schulze, and Oaxacan-born hotelier and restaurateur Horacio Sainz.

Wallpaper* dines at Little Fires, London

The mood: Oaxacan soul meets east London edge

A strong listening bar element reminds you this is east London, not Oaxaca. Producer and DJ Martin Luciuk oversees the vinyl soundtrack of the basement bar, focusing on ambient, jazz and electronic sounds, with regular DJ sets and listening events. Upstairs, the ground floor of the Grade II-listed building combines natural materials – timber floors, leather banquettes, ochre walls – with a marble bar.

‘The goal with the interior,’ says designer Tamsin Love, ‘was to create a space that feels genuinely Mexican – not themed or overly polished, but warm, raw and authentic. The main bar is small and intimate with textured walls, handcrafted materials and a palette inspired by the earth and agave fields. Every design choice was made to support the food and drink – bold, soulful and rooted in tradition.’

The food: fabulous finger food and mezcal margaritas

While most Mexican bars in London are fuelled by tequila, Little Fires is lubricated by the country’s other emblematic spirit: mezcal, tequila’s smokier cousin. The cocktail list leans hard into agave spirits with an approach as creatively innovative as you’d expect from a team behind one of the world’s best bars. Think mole fat-washed margaritas and a corn colada that will make you forsake the pineapple version forever.

Castellanos’s short and snappy menu of brightly flavoured Oaxacan sharing plates, meanwhile, should ensure that no one here is drinking on an empty stomach. Duck confit tacos come slicked with mole; bluefin tuna tostadas are spiked with a mixed chilli dressing and cooled by avocado and cucumber. It’s grazing food with a genuine pedigree, designed for the kind of evening that starts civilised and ends considerably less so.

Little Fires is located at 125-127 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E2 7DG, UK.