Bohemian Arts Club

Bohemian Arts Club is a stylish speakeasy cocktail bar on Stockport’s Underbank, ran by Katie Ogden and Tom Ogden, the lead singer in Blossoms.

You don’t have to be a music fan to enjoy its retro vibe and professional cocktails. If Where is Gary? says nothing to you other than Calvados and crème de banane, no one is going to look sniffy. It’s not a fan bar, it’s a bar for fans of bars.

The staff are fantastic. The decor is quite formal with a Parisian touch but the breezy and talented folks who make and serve the drinks have a total lack of pretension. These are beautifully-crafted cocktails and enjoying them is a real pleasure.

The bar is a bit hard to find but – spoiler alert – it’s above the hairdressers of (almost) the same name, just round the back. Inside, it’s a bit like stepping into Alice in Wonderland. The black and white stripes and diminutive size of the chairs and tables somehow have that other-worldly air.

Don’t turn up with a backpack or really long legs, because the furniture is dainty and the space between them daintier still.

Bohemian Arts Club is a big part of that coterie of indies which are making Stockport a cool destination for eating and drinking at the moment.