circle13 is a neighbourhood bar in London Fields serving session highballs, pintxos, and pétanque.
Built for the community, we're proving that quality doesn't have to be overcomplicated, expensive, or exclusive. Whether you're alone or with friends, drinking or taking a break from alcohol, feeling competitive or casual, you're in the right place.
circle13 began as a summer pop-up series, serving session highballs and zero-proof pours alongside pétanque games, and music in London Fields. Marc and Monty, the founders, were inspired after seeing how easily young people from all walks of life connected over a game of pétanque, and they wanted more of that. Most nights of their events looked the same: people standing in circles, some mid-game, some holding a drink and watching, some chatting, all moving to the sounds of hip hop, dancehall, jazz, and the clink of boules.
When the weather turned and circle13 could no longer host in the park, Marc and Monty began doing bar takeovers across London guest spots in New York. Just because pétanque wasn't present didn't mean the energy and inspiration were lost. They focused on translating their favourite feelings from the piste to the bar. By prioritising approachability, play, simplicity, and meaningful connections, they were able to recreate the experience and carry what they'd built into a new backdrop. Fast forward two years, and circle13 has a permanent home, one where the bar meets the piste and the values that built the brand are finding new ways to show up.
How we started
The Founders
Marc and Monty met through a pétanque club in New York, where mutual friends had been telling them for ages that they had to meet. When they finally did, over their first game, the conversation turned to cocktails. Monty said he wasn't really a cocktails person. Marc disagreed, he just hadn't had one without all the BS, and he was going to prove it. Not long after, when Monty started working on a project and needed someone for the drinks. Marc was the first person he called and the rest is history. Monty also likes cocktails now.
Meet cute:
[click on the images for more tea on the boys]
Having grown up in France in a winemaking family, Marc has been surrounded by hospitality and drinks his whole life. He set off for New York in his twenties, training at Union Square Hospitality Group and working at some of the city's most respected bars, including Gage & Tollner and Al Coro, before returning to London at A Bar with Shapes for a Name. Along the way, surrounded by people who spent even their days off talking about the next cocktail or restaurant, he found himself wanting a place to meet people from outside that world, which is a lot of what circle13 has become for him. His idea of good hospitality has less to do with the drinks themselves than with how people are looked after, a team that's genuinely glad to see you, a room that feels warm rather than staged, and drinks that don't need an expert to explain them. That last part is why the non-alcoholic drinks get exactly the same care as everything else on the menu, one small example of a bigger habit of not leaving anyone out of the experience.
Born and raised in London, Monty is a former international pétanque player who has drawn on his deep understanding of the game, along with a love of design and hospitality, to create a space that encapsulates the best of his favourite pastime: playing pétanque with a drink in hand and meeting like-minded people. Prior to circle13, he worked at Paul Smith on Floral Street, fitting suits and styling guests, and it was their approach to staff uniform, letting each person express their own style while keeping an overall look intact, that stuck with him most. His rule is that nothing earns its place by accident, so the lighting, the music, the finish on a corner most would never consciously notice, all get the same attention as the bigger decisions. He's just as particular about value: his instinct from day one was that circle13 should be a place people can afford to return to regularly, not just save for a special occasion, and that a bar's whole mood should be able to shift from a quiet afternoon into a proper night out without missing a beat.
