The Ministry of Sound’s new bar and restaurant will serve Eastern European wine

As London’s late night music venues continue to disappear, the Ministry of Sound is opening its own office space and restaurant, complete with a daily-changing food menu and Eastern European wines.

Ministry of Sound will venture into London’s foodie scene this summer and open The Ministry – a private members’ club combined with a shared working space, complete with its own restaurant and cocktail bar.

The new site is housed inside a converted Victorian warehouse on Borough Road, just minutes away from the South London nightclub.

“The Ministry of Sound has been running for about 25 years now, and they were looking for a gap in the market,” Dylan Murray, the food and beverages consultant who was tasked with bringing the project to life, right down to the wine list, told the drinks business.

The Ministry of Sound is entering the world of communal office spaces. (Photo: MoS)

Murray has a lot of experience when it comes to the middling high-end of London’s on-trade. He spent five years as Soho House Group’s director of operations before moving on to work for bar chain Drake and Morgan. He left D&M this year to found his own consultancy, Pickle, and has been on the MoS project since October.

“It’s the first time I’ve worked with a nightclub specifically,” he told me. While Soho House is known for extravagant parties, the Ministry of Sound has stood out as a cultural icon for a whole generation of young (and now not-so-young) music lovers.

“It’s not just MoS,” he said, “there are many brands that are looking to expand their entrepreneurial wings.”

While the bar is geared towards young, creative types, the new venture is largely about business.

“People are looking for a gap in the market, and co-working spaces are exploding right now.” Murray said.

It’s a wise move for the nightclub operator. A report from the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) found that half of London’s nightclubs closed their doors between 2005 and 2015. This, it said, was thanks to “overly restrictive planning laws and tax levies” that have unfairly hit the late-night hospitality sector.

MoS isn’t the only late night stalwart branching into daylight hospitality. Liverpool Street-based venue Fabric has invited members of the press to an all-day Drum n Bass brunch party on 30 June. Meanwhile Fest Camden is yet another “multi-faceted” venue that opened this year, housing everything from a nightclub to a rooftop bar to a cabaret club, to a pizza restaurant thrown in for good measure.

There are always risks with new ventures, and the one MoS faces is alienating its loyal following of music lovers, but Murray tells me the businesses have been kept intentionally separate to avoid detracting from the Ministry’s eponymous nightclub.

“I don’t think they’re trying to take focus away from the club,” he said, “because it performs so well, but as a business they will always look for a gap in the market.”

With The Ministry members’ club, he said, it’s all about “capturing a lifestyle.”

Staffers who are working from The Ministry will have access to the bar and restaurant, although Murray added that the nightclub operator would like to roll out associate memberships to people who “live and work locally,” over the course of the year.

Keen to attract young creatives, the workspace includes a bar and restaurant with a menu so edgy it doesn’t just change seasonally, it changes daily.

The wine list, meanwhile, will change every six months to ensure the MoS brand stays on-trend.

Drinks will also be available on the terrace. (Photo: MoS)

“We wanted to create a slight point of difference,” Murray told db. “So we’ve looked at the trends right now, we have Picpoul and Albariño, and we’ve tried to be a bit different with the crowd-pleasers too.”

The wine list will include eight bottles of red and white wines each, all retailing at just under £20 per bottle. Among the fashionable easy-drinking white wines, a Pinot Grigio from Slovenia is one of the edgier offerings that Murray believes will make the bar stand out with its members.

“While Pinot Grigio drinkers will be happy, it’s from somewhere a little different and unexpected,” he said. “It stays in line with what we want people to think about the MoS brand.”

Similarly, reds include a Primitivo, a Rioja, a Sangiovese and a Pinot Noir/Grenache blend, something Murray hoped the customers will enjoy for its “hipster” value.

Murray has also designed a cocktail menu featuring 13 bespoke drinks exclusive to The Ministry, although classics like Negronis and Mojitos will also be available. Murray hopes the bar will gain a reputation akin to that of other high-end drinking dens in Zone 1, adding that guest residencies from London bartenders could well be on the cards in future.

“We talked about it a fair bit during the planning process when we wanted to work out what our offer would be,” he said. “it’s certainly something I think could happen in the future.”