Margot and Wimbledon Brewery celebrate beer collaboration

Covent Garden-based restaurant Margot and Wimbledon Brewery are celebrating the launch of a lager to pair with Italian fine dining.

Wimbledon Brewery, founded in 2014, has never shied away from matching its beer with food. It currently collaborates with The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company who produce a smoked porter cheese using its beer, as well as with Richard Barrick, who uses its beer in the jelly which fills his pork pies.

Local artisan baker Millers Bespoke Bakery also make a ‘beer bread’ using the beer-soaked yeast straight from Wimbledon’s fermenters.

This particular lager, made in collaboration with Margot, is 4.8% golden Helles-style beer brewed with a blend of German hop varieties.

Wimbledon Brewery was first introduced to Margot via its neighbour – Italian deli and supplier, La Crendenza. At a lunch held in Covent Garden last week, founder of Wimbledon Brewery, Mark Gordon, told the drinks business that given that the beer had been used so successfully in other products, the idea of creating an exclusive lager to pair with Italian food seemed like a natural progression.

He added: “We were delighted to develop this beer in collaboration with Paulo and the team at Margot. We produce well-balanced beers, made using the finest ingredients, which pair perfectly with fine food. Margot’s lager beer has been designed to reflect the elegance and sophistication, so evident in all that is offered at this fantastic London restaurant”.

Paulo de Tarso, Mark Gordon and Nicolas Jaouen.

Margot opened its doors in October 2016, headed up by experienced restauranteurs Paulo de Tarso and Nicolas Jaouen who met during their time at Scott’s in Mayfair. Serving up seasonal Italian cuisine, de Tarso told db he wanted to create something like the American hit sitcom Cheers in that diners are treated like regulars with service intended to put them at ease.

De Tarso told db that usually Margot serves beer in a glass without the bottle. However, the new lager is served in a frosted glass straight from the freezer alongside its bottle.

De Tarso added: “We were keen for this to be an experience – I want people to remember their time with us. When you receive a frosted glass, you remember it.”

“We are thrilled with the response so far. Normally we don’t put beer bottles on the table, but I’ve noticed that after serving our lager in this way, customers keep picking up the bottles and taking pictures of them”.

Indeed, de Tarso told db that the lager has been in such demand that his customers are requesting bottles to take away.

The slate-grey label is branded with the Margot logo featuring a gold dachshund, a nod to the nick-name of one of de Tarso’s relatives.

Label design is particularly important to Wimbledon’s Gordon, who added that he thought it is essential to convey the history and story of the brand through its visual branding. Wimbledon’s logo features an image of the old five-storey tower brewery in Wimbledon, which burnt down in 1889, encircled by a phoenix signifying rebirth.

The attention to detail shown by Wimbledon is particularly important to the Margot founders. De Tarso added: “Relationships with our partners are hugely important to us – we are proud to make a feature of our suppliers on our website. The Wimbledon Brewery story, the company ethos and their discerning branding, all match what we strive to achieve at Margot. 

“We both have small teams, dedicated to providing the very best service and produce to our customers. Quality beer absolutely has its place alongside quality food, and complements our extensive wine list perfectly”.