Flute London Review

Best for: Champagne bars; private parties; corporate parties; bars near Oxford Circus.

Great: Spring rolls; innovative bar snacks.

So, ladies! Who’s on your list?! You know, THE list. The list which wouldn’t even count as cheating because, come on, it’s Brad Pitt.

If you’re yet to compile yours, you may find inspiration in the conversation my girlfriend and I had recently, when we publically exchanged list selections over Champagne cocktails in central London’s current hottest nightspot, Flûte.

She went along the sensitive, intelligent actor line: Jake Gyllenhaal; James Franco; Ryan Gosling (of course). A perfectly acceptable compendium in my book, and not just because it allowed me to regard myself - a mild asthmatic with a face like a homegrown parsnip - as ‘that type’. Its eminent acceptability derived from the fact that even if any of her anointed few did finally sate their appetite for New York supermodels and decide to snack on a bit of totty from the mean streets of Stoke Newington instead, the chances of my dearest being the one to get tapped on the shoulder are pretty slender. Even with charmless stick insect Robert Pattinson and loveable slab-o’-beef Bradley Cooper making up the numbers, the sheer impracticality of her compilation was a source of quiet reassurance.

I adopted a different strategy in my roll of honour. Yes, Anne Hathaway and Eva Mendes; how could I not? But joining them were: the barmaid from Bradley’s Spanish Bar off Tottenham Court Road; that girl I see on the 106 bus to Finsbury Park some mornings; and, the temp who worked in Accounts for about three months last year. Technically, they’re all famous, in that they’re known by people that they don’t know. However, they’re also distinctly more achievable than the likes of Eva or Anne.

So, still working on your list, but starting to think maybe the guy who lives downstairs or the bloke you keep seeing in Sainsbury’s might be a better bet than Don Draper or David Beckham? Well, let’s go back to those Champagne cocktails…..

Open less than three months at time of writing, Flûte Bar has risen to prominence amongst London’s chic clique at a meteoric rate. The third in an international trilogy of stylishly appointed Champagne bars - following successful ventures in New York and Paris - Flûte Bar isn’t the easiest place to locate. However, the throngs who regularly do find their way through the unprepossessing Great Portland Street doorway, and down the subtly illuminated stairway, find themselves in perhaps the classiest bar to open in London this side of the millennium.

As with all Champagne bars, Flûte has been equipped and ornamented to exude the same overtones of style, sophistication, wealth and exclusivity as its principal libation. Unlike most Champagne bars, however, and with the possible exception of the mildly irritating accent in Flûte’s name, none of this ostentation feels gimmicky.

Across its clean lines and warm tones, there is a rare subtlety to Flûte’s style, and from the personal volume and light controls in the private booths, to the waitress service and customisable TV displays available for private parties, it has the substance to back it up.

The drinks menu is as comprehensive as any Champagne aficionado could hope, as adventurous as any cocktail-lover could desire, and as accommodating as anyone who just fancies a crisp cool beer could need. And while the food menu offers several classic bar snacks with Champagne twists - French fries with truffle salt; mini-burgers with froie gras - it is the more daring options that particularly titillated my taste buds. Lovers of sushi will delight in the cool delicacy of the Firenze and Helsinki selections from the spring roll bar.

Talking to its co-owners, French brothers Pierre-Anthony and Yann Mabille, it is clear that every minute detail of Flûte has been pored over to exact that perfect balance of style and substance.

Which brings me to arguably the most exceptional aspect of this already special venue. For even as the thoroughly heterosexual, red-blooded, Hathaway-loving man I am, I can think of no bar in all London with more ‘list’-worthy owners than Pierre-Anthony and Yann. Smoother than the most refined Bollinger on the menu, better looking than a gaggle of Goslings, and oozing more classic Gallic cool than a Nouvelle Vague festival on the Left Bank, this former tennis player and ex-lawyer fraternal partnership own central London’s freshest nightspot, and all before either has turned a day over 28. It would be enough to make a veg-face like me green with envy if they weren’t so ineffably charming with it.

So, ladies, if you are yet to finalise your list, don’t waste valuable spots on unattainable Hollywood hunks. Just get yourself down to Flûte and relax with a cool Champagne cocktail. Your evening won’t be short of inspiration.
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Flute London Description

Located steps away from Oxford Circus, Flute is a chic but comfortable Champagne-centric lounge boasting a menu of 100 Champagnes, as well as tasting flights, sparkling cocktails a full bar and an extensive menu of cuisine de bar, created to be paired with Champagne and cocktails.

Fans of Flûte's first location in Midtown Manhattan will find Flûte London's speakeasy setting below street level enticingly familiar. Newcomers to Flûte will discover a plush multi-roomed lounge, featuring hard wood floors, warm fireplaces and cozy banquettes ready to welcome couples, small groups and corporate gatherings.

Customer Reviews for Flute London

Average (based on 2 votes): 2 Atmosphere: Value: Quality:

The following customer reviews are not endorsed by Fluid London and are simply those of users who wish to publish their independent experiences of Flute London.

“Excellent Lounge Bar! It is perfectly located off Oxford Circus (although you have to pay attention to find the entrance). I had a (very tasty) Champagne Mojito on a Tuesday and, what a surprise, the enthusiast waitress brought me a second one for free (this is what they call "Champagne Happy Hour" (!) until 8pm every Tuesday) ! This is definitely the best place I have found in Central London so far for afterwork! I will be back!”
Atmosphere: Value: Quality:
Robert Lendon, London (4 months 10 days ago)

“I really enjoyed the place. food is good and cocktails are great (I am not a Champagne drinker). Atmosphere is the best as the venue is really well decorated. The place is starting to pick up as i've been there few times now and every time is more busy. Is a good one!”
Atmosphere: Value: Quality:
Tommy, London (4 months 10 days ago)

Additional Information

• Dress Code: N/A
• Website: Visit the Flute London website
• Group: (Independent/Freehouse)