From the outside, Handshake Speakeasy gives little away. Inside, guests pass through curtains into a room styled in the spirit of the roaring twenties, with chandelier-style lamps overhead and a wall of vintage bottles – a 1950s Fernet Branca, a 1970s Beefeater gin – greeting them on the way in. Before anyone has ordered, a seasonal ushiburi arrives, hot or cold depending on the time of year, followed by a bowl of house snacks that usually includes grasshoppers.

The bar is built at izakaya height, everything at eye level, so the work happening behind it is always visible. Each bar station is positioned so that bartenders never need to turn their backs on guests, and the ergonomics have been considered just as carefully – bar height, lighting above each station and the layout of every tool within arm’s reach, all designed to make long shifts more comfortable without the guest ever noticing the thought that has gone into it.

Behind the menu is a lab that serves both floors, equipped for serious daily production. Nothing comes from a supplier that the team can make themselves, and when ingredients aren’t readily available in Mexico, they find a way to create them. Garnishes are sourced with the same intention – edible flowers from a chinampa farm in Xochimilco, chocolate in collaboration with a local chocolatier, exotic fruits from San Juan Mercado and Central Abastos. The menu evolves continuously but thoughtfully, one drink at a time, so the team can deliver each new addition with complete confidence before the next is added. Among their own creations is Di Battista, Handshake’s own aperitif bitter, which holds a permanent place on the menu.

The non-alcoholic offering receives the same creative ambition as the rest of the list, built entirely from house-made ingredients – among them the Tea Champagnes, cold-brewed for 24 hours before being sweetened, acidulated and carbonated into something genuinely dry and refreshing. Handshake also produces its own beer with Villa Castel in San Luis Potosí and two wines under the Floria label, among them a blanc de noir made from charcoal-filtered Malbec that presents as a white wine while retaining its depth of flavour. These are collaborations with independent Mexican producers that speak to the bar’s deep roots in its local community.

Those roots extend to the team. Almost entirely Mexican, many having relocated from other parts of the country, they are united by a workplace culture that takes development seriously from day one. New team members rotate through every corner of the operation before they are considered ready to work behind the bar, building an understanding of the whole before focusing on any single part. It is a philosophy that shows in the long term – the current general manager came up through the ranks, and the head bartenders have recently been invited into ownership of the group’s newest venture. Private health insurance is covered in full, meals are provided daily, uniforms are taken care of and international travel is fully funded.