Interview: Heather and Anna, The Book Club/Queen of Hoxton

Mother Brown met up with Heather Lawton and Anna Wharton at the brand new think-and-drink venue, The Book Club, to get the lowdown on the venue’s first quarter. Anna does PR for the bar, and discloses her credentials early in the meeting. Coming back from clubbing one morning, she saw Pete Doherty get arrested in Hackney one morning and shopped him to the News of the World.

It’s clear that the pair of them love working in the area. “It’s the new West End,” Anna says proudly, listing off the major label retailers who have moved into the area, and the recent success of Shoreditch House – a member’s club to rival whatever Soho’s got. The Book Club is a Leonard Street venue which used to be a DJ bar. With a bit of help from a local PR company, Mothership replaced lean-back sofa isolation with lean-in dinner tables, tete-a-tete drinking and come-together socials.

Heather, the Mothership group’s creative director, “wanted to make a Shoreditch venue for Shoreditch people”. The bar and its three floors of studiospace aim to get local creatives together to work, network, and provide ‘intelligent socialising’ – long-time locals, think old-school Tea bar when artists used to come down from the studios above to chew the fat. Already signed in to the Book Club offices are DJ History and Green Man festival.

For us mere mortals – well, the bar’s got the most imaginative events east of the ICA. Anna’s favourite thing to have happened at TBC so far is the electro-swing explosion. “It sounds weird,” she says, “but it’s really accessible.” Forthcoming highlights include Bad Idea’s seminar, ‘Future Human’, all about the marketing industry’s multi-sensory tricks, and Roots Manuva’s wacky dub parties – soon to involve banqueting and magicians. They both admit it can get a bit middle class at times – but it’s a good place to get out of your comfort zone.

The Book Club – http://www.wearetbc.com/
100 Leonard Street, EC2A 4RH
Best cocktail: Margarita Custard. “Naughty dessert – eat with a spoon” – Heather.

Want to find out more about the bar trade in East London? Read an interview with Will Foster, who owns and runs Casita on Ravey Street – just round the corner from The Book Club!