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Pints of View - Hopping On (From York Press) GAVIN AITCHISON has seen and swallowed the future of beer and it works PERHAPS this is how it will end up. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the future of drinking, once the anti-beer lobby, the politicians and the health totalitarians have finally won the day. When pubs have gone the way of police boxes and post offices, and when ordering a beer in public draws widespread disdain, this is where we diehards will be – driven underground, into small cellar bars, enjoying our guilty pleasures where busybodies won’t think to look. It will be like the States during prohibition, but we’ll have the last laugh because we’ll be enjoying the best beer our dirty money can buy. Demonised but spoilt rotten. Sotano, down a flight of stairs off Little Stonegate in York city centre, is as far from your stereotypical York pub as you could imagine. There is no history here; no vintage photographs or hackneyed ghost stories on the walls; no traditional pub grub; no falsified past. And no real ale. The place feels more modern, more unusual and more continental than almost anywhere in York. It wouldn’t be out of place in a capital like Prague or Tallinn. The lights are low, the décor minimalist and the bar sleek and chic, the beer lines carried into position in a vast pipeline that hangs from above. The ambience is unique, the service is excellent and, best of all, the beer is extraordinary. In fact, everything here was a hit – and it doesn’t cost the earth. When we were given a free tray of nuts and nibbles, we feared they may be compensatory rather than complementary – to soften the blow of a bill that we feared must be high. But no. Six beers and a cider came to £26.65 – more than you may want to pay on an average night out at the pub, but very reasonable for drinks rarely seen and rarely bettered in York. Another great write-up for our venue. But don’t take ours or their word for it, come on down this Friday for Region2’s 7th Birthday and try out the amazing drinks selection, service and of course our cracking Underground House Music for youself, what more could you want?
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Pints of View - Hopping On (From York Press)

GAVIN AITCHISON has seen and swallowed the future of beer and it works

PERHAPS this is how it will end up. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the future of drinking, once the anti-beer lobby, the politicians and the health totalitarians have finally won the day.

When pubs have gone the way of police boxes and post offices, and when ordering a beer in public draws widespread disdain, this is where we diehards will be – driven underground, into small cellar bars, enjoying our guilty pleasures where busybodies won’t think to look. It will be like the States during prohibition, but we’ll have the last laugh because we’ll be enjoying the best beer our dirty money can buy. Demonised but spoilt rotten.

Sotano, down a flight of stairs off Little Stonegate in York city centre, is as far from your stereotypical York pub as you could imagine. There is no history here; no vintage photographs or hackneyed ghost stories on the walls; no traditional pub grub; no falsified past. And no real ale.

The place feels more modern, more unusual and more continental than almost anywhere in York. It wouldn’t be out of place in a capital like Prague or Tallinn. The lights are low, the décor minimalist and the bar sleek and chic, the beer lines carried into position in a vast pipeline that hangs from above. The ambience is unique, the service is excellent and, best of all, the beer is extraordinary.

In fact, everything here was a hit – and it doesn’t cost the earth. When we were given a free tray of nuts and nibbles, we feared they may be compensatory rather than complementary – to soften the blow of a bill that we feared must be high. But no. Six beers and a cider came to £26.65 – more than you may want to pay on an average night out at the pub, but very reasonable for drinks rarely seen and rarely bettered in York.

Another great write-up for our venue. But don’t take ours or their word for it, come on down this Friday for Region2’s 7th Birthday and try out the amazing drinks selection, service and of course our cracking Underground House Music for youself, what more could you want?

(Source: yorkpress.co.uk)

York Mix - Bar talk: Sotano, a secret underworld of cracking craft beer by Nick Love If I owned a bar, I’d want to employ assiduous individuals with a genuine empathy for what they do, who took a delight in delivering something special and had obviously spent time behind the scenes honing their craft. You get a sense of this at Sotano – there’s a tangible relaxed sincerity blended with something of the infectious zeal of the alchemist. When you look at a life in the day of Sotano you get more of a sense of theirrazón de ser. You’ll get there early evening and see groups, post-work, huddled around plates of Iberico ham, patatas bravas and selected cheeses from the tapas menu, washed down with a bottle from the exclusively Spanish wine menu. The chameleonesque character of the bar is exemplified when you pop back later on, when there’s a bustling upbeat but relaxed vibe, designed, I understand, for like-minded people who want an upmarket alternative to 120bpm thudding off night club walls dripping with adrenalin. It’s hard to characterise a bar that wants to put an emphasis on providing quality for discerning people without hinting at exclusivity. “Upmarket” is an invidious term as it has connotations of high price and exclusivity for its own sake rather than a simple dedication to quality. Artisan alcohol in a pleasant environment shouldn’t cost the earth. Sotano seem to have got this formula just about right though, if their footfall is anything to go by, and have carved out a niche for themselves in a notoriously fickle and competitive market where “word of mouth” is vital to success and you have to be just that bit different and a significant notch above mundanity to make it work. Great write-up about our venue by Nick Love, who was actually present at April’s Region2, so I’m guessing we’re the “upmarket alternative to 120bpm thudding off night club walls dripping with adrenalin”, although we were playing at about 120bpm we like to keep it deep and groovy! So proud to be on-board with York’s best craft ale bar! Read the full review here.
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York Mix - Bar talk: Sotano, a secret underworld of cracking craft beer by Nick Love

If I owned a bar, I’d want to employ assiduous individuals with a genuine empathy for what they do, who took a delight in delivering something special and had obviously spent time behind the scenes honing their craft. You get a sense of this at Sotano – there’s a tangible relaxed sincerity blended with something of the infectious zeal of the alchemist.

When you look at a life in the day of Sotano you get more of a sense of theirrazón de ser. You’ll get there early evening and see groups, post-work, huddled around plates of Iberico ham, patatas bravas and selected cheeses from the tapas menu, washed down with a bottle from the exclusively Spanish wine menu.

The chameleonesque character of the bar is exemplified when you pop back later on, when there’s a bustling upbeat but relaxed vibe, designed, I understand, for like-minded people who want an upmarket alternative to 120bpm thudding off night club walls dripping with adrenalin.

It’s hard to characterise a bar that wants to put an emphasis on providing quality for discerning people without hinting at exclusivity. “Upmarket” is an invidious term as it has connotations of high price and exclusivity for its own sake rather than a simple dedication to quality. Artisan alcohol in a pleasant environment shouldn’t cost the earth.

Sotano seem to have got this formula just about right though, if their footfall is anything to go by, and have carved out a niche for themselves in a notoriously fickle and competitive market where “word of mouth” is vital to success and you have to be just that bit different and a significant notch above mundanity to make it work.

Great write-up about our venue by Nick Love, who was actually present at April’s Region2, so I’m guessing we’re the “upmarket alternative to 120bpm thudding off night club walls dripping with adrenalin”, although we were playing at about 120bpm we like to keep it deep and groovy! So proud to be on-board with York’s best craft ale bar!

Read the full review here.

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