Vinoteca Wine Bar, St. John Street

Before stepping foot inside Vinoteca I was really looking forward to it. I had heard a lot about it and was anticipating a delicious meal and a place with a great vibe. For all of you who think that public relations and marketing for a restaurant is ‘useless,’ this particular wine bar is an example of communications done right.  Many may be familiar with Vinoteca from its twitter personality (who actually is in fact one person named Caitlin), from the coverage it has received or from the word of mouth buzz it has generated in the last six months, or maybe you just know it because it sits on one of London’s best known streets for culinary delight: St. John Street.

The Vinoteca Dog

Either way, I heard about Vinoteca because they are doing a great job of marketing it and, I had assumed, an even better job of serving delicious food to very happy customers. I went a few weeks ago only to come to the conclusion that it is now my favourite restaurant in London. Vinoteca ticks all the boxes – the food, wine, service, atmosphere and price are all exactly what makes this the perfect place to dine with a friend, colleague, client or lover to adapt to any occasion which all boils down to tasty food.

I was once put off by Vinoteca because you cannot book a table but I now know this is not necessarily a problem. Once you arrive, there is standing room at the bar to enjoy a glass of wine while you wait and watch the chefs at work in the open kitchen which faces the dining room, and I am told that in the summer customers poor out into the street and enjoy the sunshine. On a Saturday evening the place is dark, warm and cozy and smells incredible. So incredible, in fact, that my nose lead me to ordering a steak which is quite rare (no pun intended) for me.

The servers are all completely relaxed (from their attitudes to their clothing), but not so that they don’t care about the customers. “Cool and calm, and happy to be there,” was the overall impression the staff left on me that evening. There are about ten standard tables in Vinoteca and an area of more intimate tables which are surrounded by a very comfortable leather sofa. I was lucky enough on this evening to sit on the sofa and see right into the kitchen. What else was fabulous about Vinoteca was the dog dining next to us. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this little guy walking around the restaurant and then sitting, in a chair, with his owners, as if he was a little person! Normally an animal in a restaurant would be a bit off putting but he only added to the charm.

There were two of us dining that evening and we ordered a selection of dishes to share including the seared scallops, black radish, bottarga and argan oil which were heavenly. The crunchy radish and the flavour of bottarga with the plump scallops melted in my mouth. We immediately noticed an interesting flavour which added to the dish, which I assume would have been the argan oil that the scallops were cooked in. It was a slightly sour flavour which was great with the sweetness of the scallops.

We then tucked in to a perfectly cooked steak – the char-grilled Scottish bavette with chips and salad. Now, maybe it’s because I hadn’t eaten a steak in months before I dined at Vinoteca, but this slab of red meat was divine. Some type of creamy, heavenly, melty sauce was poured over top with roasted onions and a large portion of thick potato wedges. The entire restaurant smelled of this exact dish so I assume it is one of the best and many others enjoyed it as much as I did.

Moving on to a cheese course – this is one of the main reasons I love living in the UK. Cheese for dessert. I’m not moving back to America until this is practiced at all restaurants and dinner parties across the country. We had a selection of cheeses with apricot relish and homemade oatcakes. The apricot relish was the perfect flavour (I had to stop my dining partner from hoarding it at one point) and it was obvious the oatcakes were not bought in.

The wine we chose was recommended to us by a friend – the 2008 Rosso di Sicilia from Borgo Selene (Sicily). According to the menu, this is a well balanced medium to full-bodied red made from the Sicilian varieties Nero d’Avola and Nevello Mascalese. It is soft, round and quaffable. It went perfectly with the steak and was almost too easy to drink.

My meal at Vinoteca was one of the best evenings I’ve had in London in the last few years – the vibe, the food, the people and the very reasonable and delicious wine were all to thank and I can’t wait to go back.

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