With Mother’s Day rapidly approaching and the last-minute rush for gifts causing many a card shop swing door to rattle, one inspired treat she might appreciate would be a Squiffy Picnic at vintage themed Cahoots. In fact even your mother’s mother would go for this quirky Soho bar which is modelled on a 1940s London Tube station and is also an actual WW2 air raid shelter.
The serving staff here are dressed like they’ve just stepped off the set of 1940s train station movie Brief Encounter. You’ll even be perched on authentic Tube carriage seating as owners Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling have covered every detail historically and in many cases incorporated actual items from the period. Where this is not possible the reproductions are still museum-like. This is noticeable from the moment you walk in because the wooden entrance is designed just like the old 1940s wooden escalators.
Is there any let up on the theatrics? Do you get to drink and eat in peace once you’ve been safely allocated a seat? Well on entry you’re invited to get in on the whole vintage theme by staff who even give you a ticket permitting you to board the Underground. And if you aren’t feeling distinctly 1940s by the time you’ve ordered your cocktails or black market booze then the period singers and musicians are there to ensure your are spirited back to post-war London in unassailed manner. Rock kids and hip-hoppers might not appreciate the jazz, swing and lindy-hop but mummy will be delighted. And whose day is it anyway?
