Mario Schifano wants to create the best cocktail bar around. And why not? Hundreds of Brixtonians would say that he already runs the best café for miles around – San Marino on Brixton Road. Simone Richardson listened to his plans and tasted the cocktails
Bar Marino is Mario Schifano’s new venture. He is Italian. His partners, Mar-Ka Peake and Razib Sammy, are from Thailand and Bangladesh.
Not content with having Rabano AIff-yanes serve me and many others the best decaf latte ever at San Marino, Mario and his colleagues want to repeat that performance with cocktails.
The morning and lunchtime queues that have been a feature of San Marino for nearly 30 years tell their own story of quality, value and service.
Razib Sammy met Mario and the Schifano family through Mar-Ka.
“Bar Marino is a cocktail bar with fabulous wine, beer and a food menu,” he says.
“We will have over 200 premium spirits from all over the world.
“We will focus on classic cocktails as well. Our guests can order most of the classic cocktails – from an old fashioned to naked and famous.
Sammy’s work in the industry has taken him from Canary Wharf to Mayfair and the West End to Liverpool Street – becoming a bar manager at one of Time Out’s 50 Best Bars in London along the way … and now he’s here for us in Brixton.
Bar and San Marino
Cocktail Bar 6pm – 12am
Cafe 7am – 7pm
