DOORSTEP DRINKING WHERE THE BREWERY, WINERY, DISTILLERY OR CIDER HOUSE HAS A GREAT RESTAURANT, TOO 1 1 ACME FIRE CULT, DALSTON, LONDON It is an unlikely hub of creativity: an old car park at the end of a Dalston side street that now boasts the Dusty Knuckle cafe/bakery, the 40FT Brewery, and Acme Fire Cult, a grill restaurant where the flames engulf vegetables as often as meat: coal-roast leeks with pistachio romesco, for instance, or tandoori celeriac with chickpea purée, green chutney and cashew cream. The brewery takes its name from the two 20ft shipping containers that originally housed it: the brainchild of brewer (and professional photographer) Steve Ryan, it has its own taproom and supplies more than 100 outlets around London. Together with chefs Andrew Clarke and Dan Watkins, Ryan also owns the neighbouring Acme: naturally, the drinks list features 40FT’s beers, including the St John Eccles Stout, a collaboration with the famous Smithfield restaurant that includes its sweet-spiced Eccles Cake currants in the mash. Cocktails include a heady blend of cognac with a kombucha made by Watkins in his fermentation room – a cornucopia of shrubs, kombuchas, kefirs and vinegars – using coffee grounds from Dusty Knuckle. His experiments have not always been successful – one using cime di rapa flowers “was the worst smell ever. And I’ve had loads of explosions. I was once covered head to toe in carrot shoyu.” 50
