TONIC

Tonic Lounge & Cocktail Bar

Proving that there is not only life but originality outside the Inner London triangle (bounded in its south west corner by Clapham), the bijou Tonic Lounge and Cocktail Bar is an oasis of divine cocktail experience.

Sumptuously decorated, with suede and lizard skin, it fulfils a dream for Jolie Samuel — who has spent a lifetime working for other leisure hospitality groups — and her partner, property developer Bruce Burkitt.

Both partners wanted the best of everything for their new Earlsfield bar — situated on the site of a former Thai restaurant; this ranges from the table service and toilet décor to the multimedia facilities.

To implement the latter Jolie renewed her acquaintance with Sound Division Group, who had worked with her previously at Noble Rot in Mayfair — largely the result of the outstanding service provided by the London technology company’s contracts manager Elliot Patterson.

Because the area is residential Tonic Trading Ltd opted for a midnight-only license and have gone to great lengths to acoustically insulate their shell. Even so, they have relied on Sound Division to set sensible sound thresholds — particularly for the Wednesday-to-Sunday live sessions which feature a roster of DJ’s.

To create warmth (with plenty of headroom), the installers have fitted JBL Control 29’s in the front bar area, and Control 28’s in the rear lounge of this rectangular room (with a Martin Audio EM120 ultra-compact sub built into the lounge area banquette to provide additional presence).

Powered by Crown amplification and EQ’d via a dbx DriveRack management system, the music is distributed to the two zones by a Cloud Z4 mixer, with remote independent volume and source control for each zone.

When the DJ is not working off the industry-standard combination of Technics SL1200 Mk5’s, Denon DN-D4000 twin CD and Allen & Heath Xone:62 mixer, background music is fed automatically to the system from a Pioneer multiplay CD.

Completing the sound and vision extravaganza are a Sky satellite and DVD-fed 42in Fujitsu plasma screen (located behind the bar) and a 37in Sharp LCD display.

“Sound Division have exceeded all expectations with their installation and quickly overcame any hurdles they encountered,” said Bruce. “Their attention to detail was great and this has been matched by their after-sales service. They were never just trying to sell to us.”

David Graham returns the compliment by adding, “When you have clients as responsive and accommodating as Jolie and Bruce, you will always go the extra mile to ensure satisfaction.”

This is just the beginning of what could become a brand roll-out for Samuel and Burkitt. “Once we are happy with this operation you will hear more from us,” promises Bruce. And since the Tonic Lounge and Cocktail Bar can accommodate fewer than 100 people, next time they will seek a larger footprint.