If you’re queer, live in Hackney or simply happen to spend quite a lot of time on TikTok, there’s there’s a good chance you’ve seen this new east London FLINTA bar on your various timelines.
Initially intended as a fortnightly pop-up in the basement of cocktail bar Off Broadway, La Camionera went viral back in February after practically every queer woman in east London descended on Broadway Market for its opening, resulting in a kind of impromptu mid-week street party as they all failed to make it inside the poky 25-cover venue, and instead resorted to hanging around outside drinking corner shop tinnies, staring wordlessly at their crushes and anxiously hoping not to bump into any ghosted Feeld matches.
Organisers responded to the overwhelming interest by launching a whirlwind fundraising campaign, raising nearly £80,000 in just a few short weeks to turn the pop-up into a permanent, full-time venue. Helmed by trans masc musician and DJ Alex Loveless and his Spanish artist partner, Clara Solis, London’s second lesbian bar opened on Well Street in late May. It takes name from the Spanish term for ‘female truck driver’ – a euphemism for butch lesbians – and is inspired by the Iberian bars that the couple frequent when visiting Clara’s family near Madrid.
There are a few wry nods to queer femme culture. Photographs by local lesbian artists line the walls, a numbered carabiner is issued to anyone opening a bar tab, and a one-eyed black cat called Captain can often be found lounging in a sunny spot on the floor. Otherwise, the vibe is definitely more in keeping with your typical east London small plates spot than your average gay bar: think white-washed walls, a terracotta color scheme in the candle-lit bathroom, stained-glass lampshades giving everything a warm, orange glow, and tasteful, hand-painted tiles decorating a bar stocked with neatly-arranged bottles of Campari and biodynamic wine.
The prices, too, are on-brand for a Hackney wine bar, so this is probably more of a date-night option if you’re used to the area’s cheap and cheerful queer clubs, though its daytime offering of coffee and pastries make it a viable option for work meetings. There’ll most certainly be plenty of east London queers who balk at paying £4 plus service charge for a caña of unnamed lager – the immensely popular new Iberian restaurant Tollington’s does them for just £2.30 – or the fact that music is kept to a background volume and everybody seems allergic to dancing.
But if you’re after something a little more sophisticated than a rainbow-festooned drag brunch (Dalston Superstore you will always be famous!) and fancy sipping your glass of La Vie En Orange while studiously avoiding meeting the eye of an achingly stylish local celesbian, this is most certainly the place for you.