Bateman’s sits in a historic early twentieth-century building, its original 1920s Tiffany chandeliers still hanging above the bar top, cleaned regularly and casting dim light across the marble below. The bar top itself was sourced from the waste of a local stoneworker, and a golden antique mirror serves as the centrepiece of the back bar. A faux half-mounted ibex named Frankie watches over the room from the wall. Large bay windows recently restored look out onto the street, with a seasonal flower box on the exterior – currently planted with bright orange marigolds. The ethos here is stated plainly – taste without the tux – and the space reflects it: baroque paintings and antique chandeliers alongside staff who will never be wearing ties, and a menu that describes what each drink tastes like rather than what goes into it. The bar stools were chosen specifically for undercarriage padding, a sturdy back, and a raised footrest under the bar, with hooks beneath the bar top for bags and jackets.

Every cocktail is illustrated by local artist Deanne Proske in a sketchbook style, and guests at the bar receive a palate cleanser on arrival – a small pour of something dry and interesting, a funky vermouth or an amaro served in a brandy snifter to open the palate before ordering. Bartenders are required to have prior dive bar experience alongside their cocktail knowledge, and are trained to walk guests through flavour profiles and help them find something suited to their specific taste – following up three minutes after a drink lands to check it has hit the mark, and offering to remake it if not.

The drinks programme runs on several parallel tracks. The core menu features original spins on classics – a Hotel Nacional made with a brown butter apricot fat wash and baking spices, served with plastic vampire fangs to take home, and a raspberry and reposado espresso Martini named after a Chappell Roan song. Every six weeks, a tasting menu of five mini cocktails runs for bar seating only on Sundays through Wednesdays, anchoring two drinks from the current menu alongside three new creations built around a specific brand, season, or event.

The in-house ice programme produces clarified 2×2 cubes every two days using directional freezing. All garnishes are considered for their functional contribution to the drink – a toasted rosemary is held over a crème brûlée lighter before service so that the scent is the first thing to reach the nose, while powdered cinnamon is lit as it is shaken over another.

The operations director has been an active DJ in the area for eight years and leads music curation, with all staff invited to submit their own playlists for approval – jazz, lo-fi, new wave, and 80s classics sitting alongside smooth pop and 2000s hip hop depending on the mood of the evening. Monthly field trips to distilleries and industry events give the team direct access to producers and fellow professionals, and the beverage director sits with any staff member working on a competition entry to help develop and shape their drink – a process that recently resulted in one bartender reaching the finals of a national competition. A Ballet Slipper cocktail with a pink ribbon garnish is on the menu through October, with a portion of sales going to a breast cancer charity, and residents of the neighbourhood receive a flat ten percent off their bill.