A COCKTAIL bar is adding the final ingredients to its latest venue.

L’Atelier Du Vin will open its third bar in Brighton’s Lanes on Friday.

Owner Steve Pineau said the bar would be similar to a “speakeasy”, illicit establishments which sprang up in 1920s America following the introduction of prohibition.

The Argus:

He said: “It’s only about 30 seats, a very small speakeasy bar.

“This will be our third bar, we also have one in Seven Dials and one in the North Laine area. Each bar has the same heart, but there are little differences.

“If you are looking for a prohibition cocktail style bar then The Lanes one will be the one for you.”

The Argus:

The bars gained their name from the French word l’atelier – a workshop or artist’s studio.

Mr Pineau says that, to him, this means “a place that is homemade, a place where we come to live and a place that is not perfect but perfectly comfortable”.

This is clearly an approach which has worked for him.

The Argus:

“I think the three bars will work well together, I would not be opening a third bar if it had not worked,” he said.

But, despite its laidback reputation, Mr Pineau revealed the hard work that goes into crafting cocktails.

He said: “We do so many things to make our drinks right, to make them interesting for the customer.

“We serve classics and some quite unusual ones, and do a lot of tweaking with our recipes as well.”

Staff receive extensive training to develop their skills. Mr Pineau said: “We have done training in Italy, France and London and are looking into Spain as well.

The Argus:

“It’s good to go to other countries and to learn from them, that’s how your bar gets better.”

He said this was essential to stay ahead of the curve as bars in Brighton and Hove continued to raise their game. Mr Pineau said: “I think the cocktail industry is changing again, it’s quite strong in Brighton. The quality in the city is so much higher than before, which is definitely a good thing.

“Everyone is always trying to make their bars better and because of this there has been a big improvement in the last ten years. People now try to use their own ingredients and do their own mixing, it’s good to see the progression of the industry.”

L’Atelier du Vin only opened its first site last year and was recently handed the newcomer of the year award by review site Top 50 Cocktail Bars.