Tom Middleton-Joseph wants to host a boiler room in the bathroom of Hausu, the restaurant he co-founded in 2024 with his sister Holly Middleton-Joseph and business partner Christian Williams in Peckham Rye station’s former ticket office. “They are crazy big,” he says of the grade II-listed toilets. “I think we’ll end up throwing some kind of bathroom party. It’s big enough. I think it’s gonna happen.” For now, he’ll have to settle for serving drinks in the trio’s new bar, which opens upstairs from the restaurant tomorrow, March 20.
The idea of a bar above the restaurant has been percolating for a while. The trio “inherited” the space when its former occupant, Coal Rooms, closed in 2024 and have been figuring out how to “use it properly” over the past year. “We’ve got a lot more people coming in wanting drinks, and we just need more space,” says Tom. Visitors enter through the restaurant and are guided by orange lights upstairs into a dimly lit room soaked in a chocolate palette with records plastered around it. Chocolate-cherry sheer voile and wool-draped curtains are used to section off spaces and build intimacy; their inspiration comes from an unlikely place. “We love the curtains in Twin Peaks,” says Tom. “We’re making it dark as fuck so you can basically not see anything – it’s going to be an intimate, sexy space.”
Upstairs at Hausu gives Tom – who worked at nearby Frank’s Cafe and The Camberwell Arms, and was on the launch team at Mountain – more latitude to play around with drinks. He’s been inspired by watching Holly (also ex-Frank’s and The Camberwell Arms, as well as The Waterman’s Arms) pushing herself in the kitchen, so will be using more processes like clarifying and fat washing. Like Holly’s cooking, Tom’s drinks programme will be led by the seasons. On the opening menu that’ll mean drinks like a salted Iberiko tomato Martini, and a blood orange Sidecar with fig foam, gin, kiwi and coriander soda.
“The upstairs list is more refined and 90 per cent different from the one downstairs,” says Tom. “It’ll be more technical, more adventurous and a little bit more exciting for us.”
Holly’s food menu, meanwhile, will be relatively simple and riff on the Italian influences that help drive her cooking. “We’re not having hot food upstairs at all,” she says. “It’s strictly a cocktail bar with a small cold snack list.” Expect oysters with a house-made Tabasco, bread from nearby Toad bakery and marinated peppers.
Like downstairs, music will play a pivotal role, and south London DJs and artists will underpin the music programming. Speakers are set high in the corners to enhance acoustics for whatever’s playing: that might be a jazz or post-punk vinyl, or local DJs like Chris OC (founder of Camberwell’s Dash the Henge record store) and Spirit Blue.
Ultimately, the bar gives the duo an opportunity to “get bolder … just try and push it as far as we can”, says Tom.
“The other bars around here are grabbing people off the street,” Holly says. “Whereas ours is going to be a bit more of a secret; if you know, you know. I want people to feel quite excited and jazzed that they’ve actually found it. And maybe keep it a little bit of secret.”
Upstairs at Hausu
11A Station Way, Peckham Rye Station, SE15 4RX
02046186101
Hours:
Thu to Sat 7pm–midnight
