Decency and Decadence Award-winning bartenders Leo Robitschek and Liana Oster discuss transplanting their innovative beverage philosophies from New York to London via NoMad’s newest watering hole. Words: Heleri Rande • Photography: © Cristian Barnett
H
ailing from opposite sides of
dinners; my parents made us gather around the
the world, Leo Robitschek, Vice
dinner table every evening,” he says. “We would
President of F&B at Sydell Group,
also go out but not to your typical kid-friendly
and Liana Oster, Head of Bars
places, more so to grown-up restaurants. We
at NoMad London, have met in
were allowed to order whatever we wanted as
the middle in central London.
long as we finished the meal. So, I picked the
The duo, who come from the US and Australia
most obscure things.” As a child, the future
respectively, are responsible for conjuring up
grand master of cocktails dreamed of living
the beverage programme at NoMad’s flagship in
in New York; moving to the city offered him a
the city’s Covent Garden neighbourhood – most
blank canvas on which to paint an illustrious
recently at the property’s new bar. Common
career in the drinking and dining sector.
Decency, in the softly-lit basement of what
As the lives of bartenders tend to go,
used to be Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, has
Robitschek’s path featured many twists
a sense of decadence and nostalgia that is very
and turns – including studying for a post-
much in keeping with NoMad’s ethos of bespoke
baccalaureate pre-med programme – but
hospitality coupled with sensuous design and
eventually led him to the eminent Eleven
– above all – fun. Its entry exudes grandeur,
Madison Park, which at the time was under
something that hotel bars used to be known for,
the direction of restaurateur Danny Meyer. “He
making the venue a much-appreciated addition
was the opposite of what many other places
to the ever-evolving London bar scene.
were doing at the time in New York; he treated
Robitschek grew up in Miami, in a family
his people with kindness and what he calls
that embraced hospitality and culinary curiosity
enlightened hospitality,” explains Robitschek.
from an early age. “I always loved family
“However, there was no cocktail programme