INTERVIEW: Botanica Hall has big plans for Battersea

We’d love to hear a bit about you and your role here.

Thanks for coming! I’m Steph. I’ve worked for Albion and East for the last five and a half years. This is our sixth bar that we’re opening and so we are very excited. It’s the first time we’ve been in Clapham Junction or Battersea, so very excited about that as well.

What makes Botanica Hall so special?

Botanical Hall is, like we mentioned, our sixth bar. Every single bar that we open has its own unique attributes. We try and use different elements from original buildings, as well as bringing in new items to innovate the design. The other thing is the food. The food’s amazing- we make all of our own pizza and pasta completely fresh. You’ve got to come and try the menu out! Are cocktails are fantastic. We’ve got our own bespoke cocktail menu and we’ve won awards on our cocktails as well. And mostly, the thing that makes us special is our gin! The gin is all made in our bars. We will also be having a new style coming to Botanical Hall but this time it’s not going to be gin… they’re going be making vodka.

Why are you so excited to be here Battersea?

Obviously Battersea is a lovely place. I love the area. Equally, we don’t have a bar here yet. And it’s a completely different demographic to what we have in our other bars. We’d like to mix things up a little bit and it’ll be great to introduce ourselves to everyone. We’ve got Clapham Junction station just across the road and we want to see all of those people that don’t normally pass through other areas where we have our bars.

Can you talk us through any of the special events or experiences that you’ll have going on here?

Of course. There’ll be all the same experiences that we’re already offering. We do some fabulous cocktail masterclasses which is super fun for all kinds of different groups. We also do gin blending masterclasses, so that’s something we’ll bring in as well, along with gin tasting and some of the gin experiences. But also if you want to have a party or your own event, we’ve got loads of brilliant flexible spaces. We’re going to have some semi private areas and some private areas along with the party bar, which could be your own special private bar!

The most important question- when are you opening?

Fingers crossed we should be open by mid November! Bookings are already open so get yourself booked in. Get yourself a Christmas party, some drinks with the girls or even come yourself and experience the space.