All change on Tilbury: farewell, Leyton Calling. But hello Azra and Point Taproom
Plus: inside E10's chic new Afghan restaurant, a beginner's guide to Don Francisco Y La Luna and new column Eating Under £15 at The Northcote
Rewind exactly two years ago and the season’s most anticipated arrival in Tilbury Road’s railway arches was a low-lit new cocktail haunt, Leyton Calling.
At that time, the only other bar on that stretch was the weekend-only Libertalia Brewery, although a restaurant, Ochi Caribbean, was about to launch, too. And Gravity Well was doing its swift trade down by Leyton Midland Overground station.
With its discreet entrance, Leyton Calling’s tropical-themed interior proved a colourful intervention in an area more synonymous with pubs and taprooms. And as for the singular libations? Well, they were as balanced as they were photogenic, thanks to experienced mixologists Pete Lidstone and Luke Condell.
So why on earth is it now goodbye? “We’ve been working with this for about two to three months,” admits owner Danny Saunders, the local bloke who’s also behind the super popular Chop Shop Tavern and streetfood market Tilbury Yard.
“Leyton Calling had to happen on Tilbury,” he says. “There had to be something like it to draw people down — because there was nothing really there. So we built that place in its over-the-top style to create a late-night destination.”
And now? “I think it’s served its purpose. Look at what’s changed here over two years, it’s crazy. So we want to close it down to focus on the former Luna [Seven Church Lane, Leytonstone], which is reopening at the end of August.”
More on that, of course, in a future issue. But for now, the plan is for Leyton Calling to shut at the end of this month “with a big party,” he adds. And there’s “no massive rush” to reboot it with a new concept, although — I would argue anyway — surely either a Spanish tapas bar with counter dining or rustic London-style pizzeria might be just what the street needs?
Either way, he’s not giving anything away right now. “Whatever we do, we want to do it well,” he says. “But it’s important to keep all my staff so we’re spreading the team across Tilbury Yard and will then bring them in early to Seven Church Lane for training.”
But in the meantime, if you’ve never tried the precise boozy inventions at Leyton Calling, get yourself down there pronto. Leyton Calling opens 5pm-11pm Thurs-Sun, and till 1am Fri/Sat, 145 Tilbury Road E10 until closing day on June 30th.
But don’t fear: another brand-new cocktail taproom is opening on the strip this weekend. Craft can company Point Cocktails have spent a decade concocting beverages deep in these railway arches, but it’s taken until now to launch their taproom, which I first announced back in February.
Flinging its doors wide tomorrow (June 13th), the new bar is a “cross between a classic brewery taproom and a grungy cocktail bar down an East London alley,” founder Hayden Gale says. “Inside, there’ll be seating for 25 people, with a couple of high stools, and outside another 25 on sharing benches.”
The eight taps, all under the watchful bonnet of a 1980s DMC DeLorean, will pour “a mix of still, sparkling and nitro cocktails”, says Hayden, “as well as spicy and frozen. They’ll be more high-end than our can options.”
Price-wise, on the opening weekend it’s just £7.50 a serve, a throwback to “2015 when we first started the business,” says Hayden.
Tomorrow’s menu will include the likes of Hugo Spritz, Peach Iced Tea, Devil’s Hop, Espresso Rumtini and more. But will my preferred tipple, the negroni, be on tap? “Not this weekend,” he says, “but we’ll have variants of it on the menu, which will change most weeks, with regular prices £9-£10, all served in glassware with proper garnishes.”
Point Cocktails taproom opens tomorrow at 1pm, and thereafter on Fridays and Saturdays 1-9pm, Arch 146 Tilbury Rd E10 6RE, @pointcocktails
Another incoming change on Tilbury is that natty wine bar Swirl’s founder Michaela Zelenanska is to step down. “We’ll be looking for a general manager,” she says, “although I’m remaining as owner, and might be back in the future.”
She explained this week that she has barely taken time off since opening Leytonstone’s much-loved former Arch Deli in early 2022. “As you can imagine, running an independent hospitality business in the current climate is exhausting,” she says, “and I didn’t have a real break for the last five years.”
However, it’s business as usual for Swirl’s kitchen residencies. Forthcoming chefs include three weeks of Swilipino from 2nd of July, plus the return of El Jardin (August 23-25th, 30th-Sept 1st), Fia’s Pasta (Sept 3rd-6th), Caribbean chef Daijon (August 20-23rd) and Nathan (Sept 24th-27th) who did the super successful Los Antojitos pop-up in Jan.
Swirl is open Wed-Sun (varying hours but all day at weekends; 5pm weekdays), at Arch 148 Tilbury Rd, E10 6RE
And more exciting Tilbury news
Earlier this week I was lucky enough to grab a peek inside the ultra design-led new restaurant Azra, which soft launches on Tilbury Road on July 3rd.
Specialising in Afghan cuisine, it’ll be “a contemporary interpretation of Afghan hospitality,” says owner Waheed Kazemi, pictured above with his brother (and business partner) Rohullah, highlighting “the educated and progressive nature of the Hazara [an Afghan ethnic group] community.”
In fact, the project is firmly a family affair, with sister Zohra involved and their chef mother Sakeenah taking control of kitchen duties.
And the dishes sound mouthwatering, from Afghan breakfasts to lunches and dinner. Scroll down for an exclusive chat with the family on the very comprehensive menu, why it’ll be BYOB, the specifics of the design and work-in-progress photos I took this week of that wow-factor interior.
It’s worth adding that with this year’s sad departure of the underrated Red Camel in Leytonstone, Azra will be the only venue in the area serving Afghan cuisine. Follow @azra.leyton
Welcome to issue 85. Guess who’s popping up at Tilbury Yard this weekend too (Friday and Saturday only)? Local heroes Burnt Smokehouse, with a concise menu of oak-smoked chicken wings, fire-cooked lamb barbacoa on warm Anatolian flatbread and ‘God’s Butter’, fire roasted bone marrow with salsa roja. Yum.
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In this week’s issue for paid subscribers:
Azra: exclusive pics and interview about the work-in-progress interior, with co-owners Waheed and Rohullah giving me a full debrief on the comprehensive brunch and dinner menus
In the first of a new “Eating Under £15” column, why the Northcote’s lasagne is the ultimate comfort food
A Beginner’s Guide to Don Francisco Y Luna, the area’s only Spanish restaurant
Side Portions: a wealth of food & drink gossip, opinion, news, pop-ups, one-offs and foodie happenings.