Venus Bar opens under Brasserie Olivia in Chelsea
La Nouvelle Garde's first bar outside France seats 22 in a basement built around 1970s Parisian nightlife, with cocktails from Jennifer Le Nechet.
Venus Bar opens on October 29 in the basement of Brasserie Olivia on Sloane Square, the first bar from French restaurant group La Nouvelle Garde outside its home country.
The 22-seat room sits beneath the brasserie, which the group opened in Chelsea in July as its international debut. Guests reach the bar down a wooden staircase from inside the restaurant rather than from the street.
A room built on 1970s Paris
Chartreuse-green velvet chairs and vintage absinthe fountains sit under a silver sculpture of Venus.
Designer B3 Designers, the studio behind the brasserie upstairs, took cues from 1970s Parisian nightlife: oak panelling, vintage furniture and objects sourced from French antique markets. Chartreuse-green velvet chairs, silver candlesticks, vintage absinthe fountains and a chrome bar sit under a silver sculpture of Venus, a nod to the fountain at the centre of Sloane Square above.
A record collection spanning 1940s-1980s French female singers, international rock and classical composers plays through B&C Acoustic speakers, with guests choosing what goes on next.
Milk punch and a Mexican twist
The cocktail list comes from French bartender Jennifer Le Nechet, who built it around milk clarification and fat-washing. A cucumber and gin milk punch nods to tzatziki, a tomato-infused Negroni leans Provençal, and "Subway to Venus" takes a spicy Mexican turn.
About 75 French wines run from everyday bottles to grand crus, and food comes down from the brasserie kitchen, including freshly shucked oysters and gougères. The wine list leans on small growers Le Nechet and the brasserie's sommelier have worked with directly, rather than the grand négociant names that dominate most hotel bar lists.
La Nouvelle Garde, led by chief executive Charles Perez, is betting that Chelsea's appetite for a French brasserie extends to a late-night room beneath it. London's cocktail scene has had a strong year on the awards circuit, with four of the World's 50 Best Bars for 2026 sitting elsewhere in the capital; Venus Bar opens into a crowded field with a pitch built on being smaller and later rather than bigger.
Venus Bar runs 6pm to midnight, closed Sundays and Mondays.
