Il Baretto

Staying central this week with a Italian tipple or two at Il Baretto on Blandford St in Marleybone from 7pm this Wednesday 28 April. Address is 43 Blandford Street London W1U 7HF and closest tube station is Bond Street. See you there.

To give you a little heads up we’re likely to head south to Green & Blue (Clapham North) on the 12 May and then east (Islington) on the 26 May for some tasting at “The Sampler” before we take a few bottle on to a local restaurant. More details to follow . . .

Two Halves at St John

In the place known for bringing hearty British food back into fashion we hardly managed to get beyond the wine list . . .

St. John Bar & Restaurant

Simple food, an architecturally inspired space and good wine . . . St. John Bar and Restaurant promises to deliver what we love best in a classy setting. If the weather is as good as last week it may be standing room only so I’ve booked a table. In an old smokehouse near Smithfield Meat Market this establishment takes its name from the street it resides on, actual address is 26 St. John Street, London EC1M 4AY (don’t get confused there is also one in Spitalfields). Look forward to seeing you there.

Belle Époque

Stepping into what are a very big pair of shoes (or possible an even larger pair of red pants) we embarked on WoW without its founder and brainchild. Ant, I can safely say we have not sold out. A hitherto undiscovered wine bar, some good company and lively conversation. It is always good to have a couple of WoW freshers and they came with fear of having to talk about Tattinger and tannins all night. To their relief the chat remained as simple as our choice of wine (and the A20 and EC2 are just the names of wines on the Bedford & Strand wine list not some complex wine terminology). We started on the Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir and stuck to it all night. It hails from the Napa in California (an area I know so little about) and takes it names from a bicycle inspired by the Belle Époque era that was “a celebration of the freedom and happiness that pervaded Europe in the late 19th century”. We didn’t come up with any such life-changing inventions but we did solve the problems of the world. The pinot was soft and plummy like an Aussie merlot but had complexity probably more expected of its Central Otago relatives. In short, good wine.