The vibe, atmosphere, ambience – these are not bar experience accidents. They’re created and curated - and few do it better than at Speak in Code in Manchester. Hamish Smith speaks to owner Nathan Larkin about how it’s done. Photos by Sean Ware. 

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I was barely through the door when I first realised Speak in Code was my kind of bar. It’s probably better known for its contemporary cocktails, modern service and slick socials, but this bar’s great strength is its mastery of the fundamentals. At Speak in Code in Manchester, first impressions are cradled like new-born babies.

Let’s say, for a moment, you haven’t been. The scene that confronts you immediately speaks to your senses. The soft lighting festoons the space, settling gently but purposefully on the tables and bar. In the shadows are warm red bricks, vintage posters and plants that cascade down the wrought Victorian features of this former cotton mill building. The music – classic hip-hop – pulses rhythmically, accenting, not dominating. You might not place the exact aroma at first, but there’s also a discernible scent. Sandalwood is diffused from various points around the bar, including the entrance, where a smiling bartender is stationed to meet you, asking how you’re doing. Your eyes, ears and nose have already been taken care of. 

This is not the work of one meticulous owner, but one who has created a culture in which every bartender thinks it’s their job to spot an off-key moment – and is empowered to fix it. “That adage that ‘you know when the owner’s not in a bar because the lights in and the music aren’t right’, well it’s not like that here,” says Speak in Code owner Nathan Larkin. “It’s everybody’s responsibility, even the newest team members. You have to know when the sun’s going down and what that means for that side of the room and its lighting, whether we need more incense on, or the music needs a tweak to fit the feeling of the room.”

At Speak in Code training is everything – and it’s the same for everyone. Roles here are fluid. That means not only do bartenders all understand the dynamics of working the floor, the hosts are also the bartenders. “Everything that comes to your table has been made by the people who bring it to your table,” says Larkin.

No one in the bar is bigger than anyone else. Instead, this is a team of equals whose work is based around a shared vision, transparency and clear communication. Indeed, that is what the bar’s name is a reference to. The real meaning of Speak in Code is the opposite – speak the truth. In other words, direct communication.

The appreciation of harmony is something Larkin found before bartending. He was in music for sometime – in a hip-hop band – where sessions in recording studios focused so much on achieving balance and how, if you get that harmony right, the sum is always more than the parts. This mixing-desk thinking is transferred to the bar space, to talk only of his approach to lights, the colour, tone and even the wattage have all been considered.

Drinks

With this appreciation of nuance of ambience, it’s no surprise that the drinks are approached with the same level of meticulousness. Very little is left to chance. “Our drinks menu is largely batched and frozen or pre-made and carbonated. We have technique-driven cocktails which use the likes of fermentation, distillation and carbonation, but they’re still three-piece drinks.

Ever one for balance, Larkin is not a batching absolutist – there’s room too for cocktails à la minute. “We still appreciate classical technique. For example, we have citrus drinks on our menu so the bartenders will often have cobbler shakers out,” says Larkin. The focus on batching is about speed of service, so we get more time with the guests.”

But the conversation around drinks is always tailored to interest levels. Indeed, the mantra behind many a drink creation is ‘don’t think, just drink’ and no cocktail fits that description more than Demo 13. If you don’t want to think and want something simple and delicious, it’s vanilla ice cream and raspberries. But if you do want to look under the bonnet you can have the same drink, furnished with the knowledge it’s got some fancy technique going on – plant-based vanilla ice cream-washed Grey Goose, with a carbonic five-day fermented raspberry soda. It’s also one of tastiest things you’ll drink.

Growth

Speak in Code didn’t appear fully formed, it slowly matured, having opened as a pop-up in the space in 2018. Now, six years on, it’s widely – and correctly – considered one of the best bars in the UK. This evolution isn’t trial and error, it’s about incremental improvements. “We call them one percenters – every time you come in, we want the place to have improved by 1% each time,” says Larkin. “Not in a financial sense, in a holistic sense. It could be that we’ve added a new plant – whatever it is, the goal here is continual growth.”

This summer, you might put that growth at closer to 10% or 20%, in floor space anyway, with Speak in Code having expanded into the site to its rear. “It’s part of Speak in Code but it’s named The Studio. It’ll be a smaller, intimate space with a communal table and technical equipment on display.”

At times it is part of the main space – you’re able to get the Speak in Code menu in there – but it can also be self-contained. “We are putting on seminars and guest shifts in there. We’re also going to start our own podcast.” The Studio marks a change of gear for Speak in Code, a confidence to build outwards, literally, but fugitively too – the hope is for it to become a hub for Manchester’s cocktail community.

There’s more – and potentially bigger – news too. Larkin has signed on another space in the building, the car park directly below the bar. It’ll be larger, higher-volume – in people and the style of drinks – but for now it’s all top secret, so mum’s the word, says Larkin. For once, speak in code.