Tapas bar’s ‘expert potion makers’ get go-ahead to serve drinks without food

Viva! Tapas. Photograph: Google.

A Hackney tapas bar has been given the green light to serve its “potions” without food.

Stoke Newington Road’s Viva! Tapas navigated the stringent licensing conditions of the Dalston and Shoreditch special policy area to get the go-ahead at a 15 January meeting of the Town Hall’s licensing sub-committee.

Councillors closely studied video evidence of New Year revelry in the area provided by an objector to the application before making their decision.

The Mexican-Latin American tapas and cocktail bar has been open in its current form since 2011, and advertise themselves as “expert potion makers”, promising that customers’ “tastebuds will have a party”.

Councillors study video footage of New Year revelry as Viva! owner Volkan Yildirim (L) looks on. Photograph: Ed Sheridan.

Things looked dicey for Viva!’s application when the committee criticised the venue for breaching the conditions of its licence by placing tables in the street outside the bar, for which the applicants apologised.

Owner Volkan Yildirim said: “We are very happy with the decision. We have been there for seven years, well-known and supported by the local community.

“We would like to keep doing our business, serving the best cocktails possible.”