Tom Kemble's Spring St. Pizza Opens a Martini Bar in Borough
On 13 October, Spring St. Pizza opens a New York Italian bar in the railway arch next to its Borough pizzeria. It comes from Michelin-starred chef Tom Kemble, who cooked at Hedone and Bonhams. The drinks start with six house martinis, from an olive oil martini to an oyster martini, with sidecars including an Oscietra caviar bump. The food is Italian-American bar plates for sharing, among them mortadella sliders, meatballs, crudo and a deep-fried mini lasagne. Polina Sychova designed the 2,500 sq ft space.
On 13 October, Spring St. Pizza opens a New York Italian bar in the railway arch next to its Borough pizzeria. It's from Michelin-starred chef Tom Kemble, who cooked at Hedone and won a star at Bonhams before founding Spring St. Pizza in 2025. The 2,500 sq ft bar is built around martinis and Italian-American plates for sharing.
There are six house martinis. Il Tuo Martini is yours to build: Plymouth Gin or East London Vodka, filthy, dirty or dry, with a twist, an olive or as a Vesper. The Olive Oil Martini uses olive oil-washed vodka and bee pollen fat-washed Verdemanda olive oil. The Tomatini is Gin Mare, tomato, dry vermouth and basil oil, and the Oyster Martini has kombu-infused gin and vodka, oyster shell vermouth, Agua de Mar and oyster leaf. A Blue Cheese and a Ligurian Martini complete the six. Any of them can come with a sidecar: blue cheese olives, giardiniera or an Oscietra caviar bump. The cocktails include an 'nduja-infused mezcal margarita, and there are Italian wines and beers.
From 4 - 6pm, Bartender's Happy Hour pairs cacio e pepe loaded fries and confit garlic dip with a house mini martini for £10. Elsewhere, there's rosemary focaccia with ricotta and honey, day-boat calamari, and lasagne bianco fritti, a deep-fried mini lasagne with mushroom, porcini and Taleggio. Crudo comes as bluefin tuna or sea bream, and there are oysters and culatello with stracciatella. Bigger plates are meatballs in the house red sauce and mortadella sliders with scamorza and pickled jalapeños. The first sorbet is a Negroni.
Polina Sychova designed the bar, which connects to the pizzeria but runs darker: exposed brick, chrome, burgundy tiles, checkerboard floors, lounge seating, a long central bar and art from antique shops. "We wanted to create somewhere where you can have a really good martini with great food," says Kemble.
The bar is at Arch 32-33, Southwark Quarter, Southwark St, London SE1 1TE, opening on 13 October. It's open Tuesday - Saturday, 4pm - 12am.
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