Basement cocktail bar opens at Cavita

Chef Adriana Cavita has opened a Mexican cocktail bar in the basement of her debut Marylebone restaurant, Cavita.

Having launched her restaurant in 2022, the chef-owner wanted to build on consumers' growing interest in authentic Mexican food and spirits. The bar, Mayahuel, serves a variety of high-quality mezcals, tequilas and other agave-based spirits from independent producers, as well as a range of original cocktails and a concise bar snack menu. 

Mayahuel is accessible via a separate entrance on Wigmore Street, as well as through the Cavita restaurant itself. The bar is led by head bartender Manuel Lema, former bar manager of La Bodega Negra, who presides over a drinks programme that includes agave flights, sipping mezcal and food and spirits pairings, where agave spirits are served alongside food including olive, dark chocolate, grapefruit, tomato and grasshopper salt to emphasise their flavour profiles. Signature cocktails for the restaurant and bar include the Cavita Margarita, made with a blend of tequila blanco and reposado, mezcal and triple sec, as well as the Black Mayan, an original serve made with Eminente 7 Year Old rum, espresso, Ojo de Dios coffee mezcal, demerara sugar and chocolate.

The bar snack offering includes a selection of antojitos (Mexican snacking plates), including the tuna tostada with macha sauce, avocado purée and ginger vinaigrette; and esquites, a Mexican corn salad with chicken broth, jalapeño mayo and Appleby's Cheshire cheese, with the option to add bone marrow. 

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