The first independent restaurant to open under Hotel du Vin’s “Bistro du Vin” brand was unveiled last week in the capital’s Clerkenwell district.
A stone’s throw from Smithfield’s meat market and Farringdon tube station, the 65-seat eatery has an open kitchen in the centre with a wrap-around pewter-topped bar so diners can watch chefs as they prepare food. There is also street seating out front beneath an awning.
Food is served throughout the day to cover breakfast, brunch (weekends only), lunch and dinner, with ingredients including locally sourced fish, seafood, steak, cheese and vegetables. Dishes range from the likes of black bream with marinated and pureed fennel, Hardwick lamb rump and hot roasted shells of lobster, crayfish, razor clams, oyster, crab claws and mussels. There are also some more unusual offerings such as roast bone marrow and artichokes with ratatouille dressing.
As Business Traveller observed at the opening night party, there is also a shop window with displays of prime cuts of Scottish, British and Irish beef from the nearby market and an in-house butcher who will prepare the meat for you in front of your eyes.
Another window will feature a signature wine-tasting table with access to a collection of around 200 vintages selected by master sommelier Ronan Sayburn, who will also be joined by newly appointed 19-year-old sommelier Danielle Meenagh, the winner of Michelle Roux’s BBC2 show Service.
In addition, a cigar menu is available for smokers, and downstairs is a 14-seat private dining room for meetings or events. There is also an innovative system that allows you to purchase wine by the glass from a dispenser to make sampling that bit easier.
More Bistro du Vins are set to open in the near future. Visit facebook.com/businesstraveller for exclusive photos from the launch event.
Bistro du Vin Clerkenwell, 40 St John’s Street; tel +44 (0)20 7490 9230; bistroduvinandbar.com.
Report by Jenny Southan
