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Wine List Confidential: Sael

30 September 2024 By Douglas Blyde

Douglas Blyde sets sail for Sael, Irha and Jason Atherton’s new restaurant. While there, he discovers how group wine director Roxane Dupuy’s “love for larger-than-life bottles” shines through in the list.

Created by self-made chef-restaurateur, Jason Atherton and his wife, Irha, Sael is named after the Old English word for “season”. Square Meal describes “an affordable British brasserie” which is, says Harden’s, “less ‘haute’ than at Pollen Street (though from its relocated chef, Dale Bainbridge).” From the wood-fired grill, the menu has already impressed critics, with Richard Vines calling it “slightly off-beat”.

Design

Gone are the days of Aquavit’s “Green Glass Carpet,” a relic from a restaurant which barely whispered its existence before vanishing. In its place, depictions of four seasons by British artist, Kay Harwood now grace the walls, with autumn’s pheasant making a cameo on the back of the menus. The chandeliers by Martin Brudnizki remain, casting a familiar glow, but the now birch-lined room has been transformed by Rosendale (Little Social, The Ninth, Cabotte), with the dual-textured banquettes being the best seats in the house. With transparent meat lockers, the gleaming bar, and open kitchen are focal points. There’s only one curious addition: a bulky, freestanding bank of wine fridges, harbouring vinous treasures, though breaking the flow.

Sael is reportedly but one of Atherton’s five new London openings in as many months. Among the more notable transformations is Pollen Street Social, now reimagined as Mary’s, a steakhouse devoted to the art of the “smash burger” (a neon sign ensures you don’t miss that detail). Then there’s The Three Darlings in Chelsea, a bistro inspired by the couple’s daughters. Though the pinnacle will be Row On 5, a two-storey, 28-cover restaurant on Savile Row which pays homage to Atherton’s penthouse-like, two-Michelin-starred Row On 45 in Dubai.

Drinks

Wines at Sael are handled by the ever-capable group wine director, Roxane Dupuy, whose love for larger-than-life bottles earned her a prototype Coravin with jaws so wide it could probably grasp a cask. Dupuy hails from Luxembourg – a nation, as Louis Thomas noted, ranking fifth in the world for per-capita alcohol consumption. She previously wielded 12-litre bottles of d’Yquem at The Twenty Two, having started her journey as an apprentice sommelier at the three-Michelin-starred Le Petit Nice Passédat where sea views are as coveted as wine pairings, before moving to the alpine heights of the two-star Pic at Beau-Rivage Palace, and in London, Sketch’s three-star Lecture Room & Library. Her training includes Institut Paul Bocuse.

Appointed brand new, graceful Spiegelau glassware, the sparkling selection by the glass includes homegrown Hoffmann & Rathbone Blanc de Blancs (£30) from the “Cream & Toast” category, while “off-dry Afternoon Tea” headlines delightful oddity, Turkey Flat Vineyard’s sparkling Shiraz, sweetened with “very old Australian vintage port.” You can order wines by the pint at Sael, too, hence 568ml of London Cru’s Bacchus will set you back £50, while Shelter Winery’s Baden Spätburgunder (£38) is so-named for its origins in a bunker on a hitherto forgotten Canadian airfield.

Bottles begin with the chintzy of label Wild Garden Cape Coast Chenin Blanc (£37), which is part of a fleet of over 30 wines under £50, including Altano Branco Reserva from B-Corp-certified Symington Family Estates (£40), and Pheasant’s Tears Saperavi (Madlieri) from Georgia (£48), a serendipitous liquid respect to Kay Harwood’s artwork. If one is on good terms with Dupuy, she might even share some of her own treasures, such as her “wine geek highlight of the week”, a “2007 Chinese rice wine.”

So often at the stratospheric end of the spectrum, Burgundy reigns supreme. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 2014 (£2,360) is, however, below retail here, while the 2020 Domaine Coche-Dury Bourgogne Chardonnay (£429) hovers just above. Elsewhere, with a remarkably gentle mark-up of just over two times (an unexpected kindness given the postcode), one finds Paul Jaboulet Aîné La Chapelle 1994 at £290, 1995 Solaia for £690, and the increasingly rare 1983 Cuvée Frédéric Émile from Trimbach at £446. Despite Dupuy having visited the Château last year, Haut-Brion is yet to feature.

A tight sake list offers the likes of “Sumi” Tokubetsu Junmai from Peckham, and the elusive 1992 Choryo “Yoshinosugi” Taru Jukusei Genshu (£225), aged in cedar. And the setup of Guinness follows similar rules to The Devonshire close by, according to Atherton, who took his team to dine there.

Formerly the Stockholm Room, Apples & Pears bar has its own entrance and is toasted by a Scotch cocktail which shares its name. Inside, as per the dining room, only the light fittings remain untouched, while the walls play host to works from the Young British Artists (YBA) movement. The interlocking rooms with boldly patterned carpets, built-in DJ booth, and and a patinated metal ceiling, feel reminiscent of Upstairs at Langhan’s. This is where The London Standard launched its latest incarnation, and a photograph of editor, Dylan Jones, now meets guests as they ascend the stairs.

Dishes

Under Jason Atherton’s watchful eye, we dined in the company of Richard Vines, who once announced trains at Oxford Station, went on to cover coups, interview Mandela, hail a North Korean police car which he drunkenly mistook for a taxi, then spend seventeen years as Bloomberg’s chief food critic.

We began with tempura rock oyster, its briny bite accentuated by Sarson’s “scraps”, evoking the childhood thrill of Salt & Shake crisps. Feeling particularly continental for a so-called British brasserie, we were then presented with Mount Vesuvius tomato and Charentais melon – their textures strikingly similar – wrapped in lardo and pecked with aged sherry vinegar. Alas, the smoked leek sauce of an otherwise large, respectfully cooked Orkney scallop felt overly swampy a base. Dupuy, poured a broad-shouldered Viura from Bodegas Gregorio Martínez Selección Mónica Martínez Blanco 2015 alongside, its late autumn-harvested grapes, and two years in barrel, revealing a fine, stately wine.

Next, the much-discussed, bite-sized yet decadent Marmite English custard tart, crowned with nutty Umai caviar from n25. This purveyor is known to send caviar-free Christmas cards in parcel form by recorded delivery to hopeful recipients, including your correspondent. This umami-packed indulgence found its ideal partner in a lively, refined 2009 Aligoté from Domaine Potinet-Ampeau – a bargain at just a tenner, leaving guests feeling they’d scored a victory.

Then came what Atherton modestly called “lobster and rice” – plump Cornish lobster, expertly flame-kissed over embers and bathed in coral butter. Dupuy applied a smart, laser-focused Riesling. Kanta 2016 hailed not from the Mosel, but Adelaide Hills, a collaboration with Shaw and Smith.

The “100-layer” Hereford snail and ox cheek lasagna, crisp in the right parts, was also served straight from the pan. Dupuy followed with a gently maturing Grenache from Clare Valley’s Kilikanoon – Duke Reserve, leaning north of our prior stop, but from the same year, bringing an enveloping warmth to the standout dish.

Dessert was pure nostalgia – bread and butter pudding made from ostensibly leftover morning croissants, topped with whippy ice cream, and a strawberry jam “roly-poly”, finished with Jersey custard, and spun with a whisper of smoked butter. Vines, believing champagne is always the answer, suggested champagne here. Dupuy, ever resourceful, countered with Henri Giraud’s Ratafia Champenois, a soft Marc from the region, and the generous sparkling traditional method Solstice from Danbury Ridge, Essex, subject to “42 months on lees” and with more Chardonnay than in a previous prototype, according to its sage viticulturist, John Atkinson MW, who delivers sermons on Voltaire at his tastings.

The finale? A pour from the six-litre bottle of Château Suduiraut 2009, dwarfing the diminutive yet mighty Dupuy, its nectar lingering on the palate for hours.

Last word

With a precision which defies its infancy, Sael’s dishes were bold in flavour and sensibly priced to attract rather than deter. The wine list, easily navigable, rich in character, and offering remarkable value, was a delight to explore. Minor gripes – fluctuating light levels and dim staircases – stood in stark contrast to a venue which otherwise deserves to shine.