Drake’s at the Pub

We quite like the pub. It’s where we gather, celebrate, occasionally drown our sorrows. A quiet or rowdy corner on a gloomy night or a bright afternoon is something to treasure, so we thought we’d get a few members of the Drake’s team to raise a glass at one of our favourite new-meets-old establishments, The Hero, a beautiful converted building over several floors on a leafy corner of Maida Vale.

“We love Maida Vale,” says James Gummer, one of the pubs founders. “My wife grew up here and it is such a beautiful part of London that we felt was really under served. It is also such an amazing building, and we were excited to be able to really explore this idea of pubs being a space that people can use in so many different ways, as an extension of their own home.”

As special as American dive bars, Japanese Izakayas and French bouchons are, there’s just something about the pub; one of the things that we miss when we’re away from home and an indelible part of our national identity. 

“The pub is so rooted in British culture,” says Gummer. “It’s something we should be incredibly proud of.”