A new cocktail bar is set to open in York – inspired by one of Britain’s greatest musicians.
Life on Mars will open on Lendal Bridge, in what was previously the Quirky Café & Bar, in the first week of April.
YorkMix chatted with owner and mixologist Ross Woodford to find out more.
Ross previously opened Life On Mars in Shenzhen, China, where he and his wife lived for eight years, and since moving back to York he started working as a bartender at Skosh and has hosted his own pop-up bars.
“They were always really popular,” said Ross, “so my gut feeling was people would be interested.
“The concept of Life on Mars is basically the drinks themselves,” explained Ross. “I want it to be a mix of European and Asian – more specifically Chinese ingredients, that reflects my interests.”
“It’s like my second home town,” said Ross. “So that style of drinks reflects who I am. I also really like introducing people to new things. What would be relatively non-exciting ingredients for a Chinese person, over here, so many people might not even have heard of them.
“For example, one of the drinks that’s going to be on the menu is using Chinese Mountain Peppers – which is a super zesty, lemony ginger hybrid flavour.”
The aesthetic of the original Life On Mars in Shenzhen was a mix of industrial and retro-futurism, and inspired by David Bowie – which is also where the name comes from.
“I wanted to name the bar a little bit after my dad – him and me really, really loved David Bowie, it was his favourite musician. My father passed away over ten years ago now, so I wanted to name it after him without it being quite so obvious.”
For Life On Mars in York, the aesthetic will be a bit different.
“We’re in this beautiful Grade II listed building, so industrial style wouldn’t really go with that – we’re chopping and changing it a little bit. But we still want it to be bright and colourful.”
As well as cocktails, Life On Mars will also offer made-to-order Chinese dumplings, with meat and vegetable fillings.
Though Life On Mars will obviously appeal to cocktail lovers, Ross is hoping it will be “attractive to everyone.
“The cocktails are the key, but we’ll have some wine, some beers, spirits and mixers. I’m really into the idea of a bar like an old pub – it’s a social and community hub. For me, cocktails and drinking isn’t about getting drunk, it’s about enjoying it.
“Building that community is really important to me. At Life On Mars in in China, the vast majority of our customers were regulars and there’d be friends there who met in that bar and now hang out loads outside the bar.”
The bar also plans to host events in the future too, such as live music and special events like a Dungeons and Dragons night.
One cocktail that you’ll find on the opening menu is called ‘Space Oddity’, which is a twist on a Negroni called a ‘white Negroni.’
“This is a twist on that, but it uses yellow bell pepper juice and a really specific Mezcal.”
So far, the reaction to Life On Mars on social media has been positive. “I’ve had people messaging and commenting and even a few random emails from people like ‘this sounds really cool and exciting.’ I’m happy it’s getting a positive reaction straight away – maybe vindicating my hope that people actually want the cocktail bar.”
Life On Mars would hopefully become a destination bar in York. “I think the highest ambition that I’d sneakily hope for is for it to become a bit of connection point between the East and the West,” said Ross. “My highest aspiration would be able to bring over some Chinese bartenders here to do bar takeovers.”
To stay up to date with Life On Mars, visit their Instagram page here.
