When two worlds collide in a London pub? Time for a Swift half
The Black Dog 112 Vauxhall Walk, SE11 5ER. Monday-Saturday 12pm-11.30pm. Sunday 12pm-9.30pm
THE Black Dog in Vauxhall was, until the mighty Taylor Swift effect, a fairly average south London pub. It hasn’t been a boozer for some time. Drinkers will find branded lager, local IPAs and bottles of Chablis; the menu dips into pub classics but is more a haven to burrata (take this off, I beg you) and mushroom risotto.
Then the most famous pop star in the world named a song after the place and fans — sorry, “Swifties” — soon started to descend. They turned up to shoot TikTok videos in an unlikely pilgrimage. To tourists it might even be a little hard to find, tucked away behind Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens — it more often serves office workers and locals — so the sudden deluge is all the more impressive.
Apparently Swift didn’t ever visit — pub staff say they scoured CCTV to see if they could spot her, to no avail — but her ex-boyfriend, London actor Joe Alwyn, supposedly did. The events and social media manager for the small hospitality group SC Soho, which owns the pub, pretty much confirmed it to the media as interest piqued.
The pub is making good use of the free PR. As visitors surged, so came drinks deals, merch, Instagram posts and Swift lyrics on a blackboard: “And so I watch you as you walk into some bar called the Black Dog.” The story goes that Alwyn forgot to turn off the location on his phone and Swift saw he visited during a turbulent time in their relationship. Moving swiftly on.
As for the pub, fans have been embraced. I don’t think there’s room for cynicism. Fair play, have fun with it. It’s cute enough. To see an unassuming pub become the talk of the town is all power to hospitality, an industry in crisis. It’s also a nod to the force of celebrity — a tale as old as time in our game and always a good one.
“It’s been quite a lot to process,” one barman told the Standard’s Pippa Logan. The pub has had to order more glassware and at one point hired security to manage the deluge (but there was no bad blood).
The atmosphere’s been positive. Fans have turned up, enjoyed a swift half and paid tribute to their hero. Visitors to London have scrambled down to Vauxhall before flying home to Vienna, Prague, wherever else. It won’t be long before the Americans arrive. I used to go every now and then after playing football and would get the Black Dog stout. The last time I visited was after recording a podcast. Christ. So then two worlds collide. And that is what pubs are for: they are for everyone. Where else would “footballers” and “tortured poets” meet?