The cocktail bar, headed up by an award-winning hospitality trio, will open in The Custard Factory on 8th September with food from “fast fine dining” chef, Dan Sweet
Passing Fancies, the brand new cocktail bar headed up by award-winning bartenders Tommy Matthews, Matt Arnold and Eve Green, officially opens in the Custard Factory on 8th September.
The bar will bring ‘approachable luxury’ to Birmingham, with a regularly changing menu and a vow to stray away from set themes. Taking up residence in the Digbeth Estate’s iconic Custard Factory, with a space able to hold up to 54 covers, the venue’s layout will be reminiscent of ‘the kitchen at a house party’.
The food offer will be provided by Dan Sweet, former chef at Michelin-starred Simpsons Restaurant in Edgbaston. Dan’s time in fine dining kitchens led him to create Qbox, a business offering takeaway boxes of fine dining dishes.
Dishes being served in Passing Fancies will include Smoked Deep Fried Potatoes with crispy chilli mayo and coriander, Beignets with deep fried cheese & onion bites and English mustard, Beetroot Salad with textures of beetroot, buttermilk and cucumber sauce and Courgette, Ricotta and Black Olive with charred courgette, dressed borlotti beans, confit lemon, black olive cracker and whipped ricotta.
The menu finishes with sweet options including Chocolate & Pear Choc Ice with chocolate delice, poached pear, cocoa wafer and hazelnut and Peach Garden with peach bavarois, peach salad and roasted almond.
The bar will be serving a variety of drinks including Adonis (sherry, vermouth and aromatics), Champagne Crumble (lacto fig, rhubarb and champagne), Man Goes Next Door (mango, masala rum and greek yoghurt) and El Diablo (blackberry, tequila and ginger). A selection of wines will also be available, such as a Garnacha (France), a Jacquère (France) and a Pet-Nat Rosado, alongside beer options of Stella Unfiltered and Guinness.
The team behind Passing Fancies were inspired by the idea of ‘creativity out of love’, stemming from the story of local chemist and founder of the Custard Factory, Alfred Bird, who created the first eggless custard due to his wife’s allergy. The trio, Tommy, Matt and Eve, are aiming to use Passing Fancies as a platform to create something long-lasting out of their love for the industry, much like the man for who the building is named.
Tommy Matthews said, “We are incredibly excited to finally be opening the doors to Passing Fancies – and to also announce that our food offer will be provided by the talented Dan Sweet. We have, for a long time, hoped to be able to use our passion for the industry to create a space that would provide a comforting and high-end experience for people to create long-lasting memories. We want Passing Fancies to represent not just a bar, but also a community. We can’t wait to share the space, the drinks and the menu with everybody from 8th September.“