Welcome To Getting Pissed In London Week

Richard Martin and Matt Rodbard•Updated: June 8, 2015 3:33 pm EST

All this week on Food Republic, we'll cover drinking, eating and playing in London, England.

This is going to be fun.

The art of making, and drinking, cocktails has been a big part of our mission with Food Republic. We've done stories where Jim Meehan told us how to imbibe at the beach. NYC-based writer and barman Brian Quinn has penned a number of drink recipes, rich with historical perspective and Green Chartreuse. Dammit if he'll get everybody to buy a bottle. And just last week we launched a weekly column written by a living legend in the mixology game, Simon Ford. So it's safe to say that cocktails play a role in living the way a man should.

But then a little under two months ago it dawned on us that we'd been neglecting a major part of modern mixology. Sure, we had published lines and lines about port cocktails and Kold-Draft ice. But we'd turned our backs on the pioneers of modern mixology. London, as it became clear, was not adequately represented—and that needed to change!

All this week we will be publishing stories dedicated to getting pissed in London—as in, a tribute to drinking (and eating) really, REALLY well within the city limits, in the secret underground cocktail lairs and the suave, globetrotter-packed hotel bars and the historical neighborhood pubs. From the 1980s heroics of Dick Bradsell to the current crop of drink slingers, we've discovered that London has established itself as the most important drinking city in the world. We weren't completely sure before our adventure began, but we're sure you will agree by the end of this week.

And not to get all Academy Awards opening credits on you, but Getting Pissed in London Week is starring (in alphabetical order): Jeff Barrett of Heavenly Records, April Bloomfield, Tony Conigliaro, Benjamin Dilloway, Tracey Emin, Simon Ford, Mark Hix, Stuart Holden, Erik Lorincz, Paul Mant, Ago Parone, Raf Rundell of The 2 Bears, Nick Strangeway, Max Tundra, Charlotte Voisey, The Young Turks and some special surprise guests.