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Wine List Confidential: Dinings SW3

28 October 2024 By Douglas Blyde

Douglas Blyde pays a visit to Dinings SW3, leaving his drinks choices in the hands of the aptly-named sommelier Chris Frayling Cork, including a “structured” 2018 Chambolle-Musigny from Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot to complement one dish which evokes “a McDonald’s cheeseburger for a VVIP”.

Replete with a “lovely” courtyard “complete with a mature tree”, Dinings SW3, is “tucked at one end of an exclusive mews,” noted Good Food Guide. Within, The Week’s Arion McNicoll encountered “an unexpectedly convivial modern Japanese restaurant” in which Square Meal rated “luxury food, turned up to 11.” Such a formula has seen the brand go “properly international these days,” said Harden’s, leading to a pop-up in Sicily, a permanent sequel “in a Tel-Aviv hotel”, and planned operations in Saudi Arabia.

Design

Once the great hall of a Victorian schoolhouse, the dining room now features a striking sushi bar built from Calacatta Oro marble and stainless steel, with a portrait of actor, Michael Caine casually presiding over the scene. Overhead, the semi-private Kurabu lounge hummed with energy during our visit, hosting London Cocktail Week’s top drinks trade talent. At the far end, the coveted prime seat – an inviting curved banquette is theatrically framed against a grand fireplace promisingly adorned with a Latin and Teutonic tribute to Bacchus. Notably supportive, the chairs are perfect for a leisurely, lunch.

Drinks

Liquid assets are in the capable hands of Chris Frayling Cork, a Norfolk-born doctor who traded the twilight shifts of the COVID era in the NHS for something with a bit more fizz. His epiphany came at The Gin Trap Inn in Ringstead, where he discovered that life held better bottles than Barefoot. Now purveying “a different kind of anaesthetic,” Cork arrived at Dinings SW3 under the mentorship of Jiachen Lu (now at CORD), a former lawyer, learning from her over six months before stepping into the role of head sommelier in February. Since then, he’s refined the wine list “in a more classic style” under the tutelage of James Lloyd, formerly of Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road.

Choices by the Riedel glass start at £10 for a 125ml pour of Albariño from the restored vineyards of the 1163-founded Quinta de Couselo, rising to £105 for a 75ml portion of 2004 Château d’Yquem from a seven-strong sweet selection. Somewhere in between, Mac Forbes RS 20 Riesling from the cooler, oddly named Strathbogie Ranges is £16, while if you happen to be craving carbonically macerated Zweigelt, MAMA from Ebersbrunn, Niederösterreich will set you back just £1 more.

By the bottle, England’s parcellaire sparkling producers are notably absent in favour of the likes of a Moravian Blanc de Blancs (Vinarství Gala) from 2020 (£90), while Champagnes include Pascal Agrapart “Terroirs” Avize Grand Cru Extra Brut, subject to a reasonable markup, given the postcode, of about two and a half times (£230), while the indulgent Salon 1997 sits at a cool £2,565.

Still wines start at £60 with Domaine de Triennes Provence rosé, a collaboration between Burgundy’s Domaine Dujac and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, filed under “Rosé & Low-Intervention.” This section also features the fascinating orange Johanniter and Souvignier Gris from Dziki Taboon in Lower Silesia. Another delightful curio to consider is the German Syrah, “Däublin, Jaspis” from Weingut Ziereisen, Baden 2019 (£160). At the upper end, Petrus 2009 is relatively gently priced at £6,500, compared to £5,250 at a leading Mayfair merchant.

The approximately 60-strong sake list, including 25 by the smart, conical glass, spans from Konishi Gold (Konishi Shuzo, Hyogo) at £75 a bottle, to one of just 888 bottles of Noguchi Naohiko 01 2018, Ishikawa (£2,700), raised by none other than the “God of Sake Brewing” himself. For a mere £1,000, you can sample the aptly named Sado Gold Mine Aged 2018 from Obata Shuzo in Niigata.

Dishes

Chef, Masaki Sugisaki’s culinary journey began early, rooted in his upbringing in Japan, where his family ran a traditional kaiseki. As a child, he would rise pre-dawn to join his parents on visits to the fish market – a ritual which shaped his care in sourcing ingredients. Sugisaki’s path eventually led him to Nobu Berkeley Street, before playing a key role in the opening of the original Dinings, Harcourt. In 2017, he turned his full attention to Dinings SW3, where, with precision and charm, he led the restaurant to such acclaim that its discerning clientele now seek him out to cater their private events.

Lunch began with the sharply defined grower Champagne, Philippe Gonet Blanc de Blancs. Cork himself has visited Gonet while marvelling at the sprawling vineyards of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. This acid-forward tipple, more citrus and verve than bread and yeast, played a perfect duet with the opening snacks: crispy rice balls presented in a masu cup, spread with hand-picked Dingwall crab, and diced beetroot clasped in salted “tar tar” potato chips.

Next came a tableside production – Sugisaki’s salad of sake-steamed chicken and cucumber, served with his signature chilli oil, a concoction so addictive it’s available to buy in jars. A tantalising mix of pistachio, miso, and bonito flakes. To accompany, Cork uncorked the Dinings SW3 “78 Gin” from Konotomo Shuzo in Hyogo, one of three sakes exclusively crafted for the restaurant. “When I started, I knew nothing about sake; trial by fire,” he confessed.

Then, Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume from Domaine Gilles et Nathalie Fèvre, grown on a terroir of fossilised oysters. Paired with this clean, mineral crush were three creel-caught langoustines from Dingwall, plump, and dressed with confit garlic and preserved lemon vinaigrette. Extracting the claw meat felt like a small victory – a task well worth the effort.

Cue the much-anticipated house udon noodles, a dish so revered that customers demand them on booking. Foot-trodden, these stretched strands were perfectly al dente, bathed in chicken stock and tahini, and garnished with julienne leeks. Comfort food, Sugisaki-style.

Not to be outdone were the wagyu baos – juicy patties cushioned in soft, cloud-like buns with fatty mayonnaise, the whole thing evoking a McDonald’s cheeseburger for a VVIP. Alongside came sliced A5 wagyu slices, presented with ponzu, mooli, and finely sliced spring onions – best treated as a DIY wrap situation. Inspired, Cork poured a structured 2018 Chambolle-Musigny from Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot, into Riedel’s New World Pinot glass, enthusing over the glass’s chimney-like rim which “catches the wine’s nuances.”

In rolled the Wester Ross salmon loin, and seasoned with pinpoint precision, Maguro maki with tuna from Tarragona – akami, chu toro, and o-toro – wrapped in pleasantly aromatic seaweed. Cork presented a trio of sakes as a delightful boozy pick ’n’ mix, including Ultra 8 from Tatenokawa Shuzo, a sake polished down to an impossibly pure 8%. “Takes three months to make,” he said – and possibly less than three seconds to finish.

Finally, dessert – a reimagined Mont Blanc with caramelised hazelnuts, featuring piped purple sweet potato, whisky, and a Matcha ganache. Sweet, savoury, and just a little rebellious, it was paired with a Miso Espresso Martini prescribed by head of the bar, Wiktoria Sudak, who, in an authoritative blazer, delivered the drink with gravitas. A blend of Orientalist Imperial Rum, brown butter, and miso – yielding a bump of energy, the perfect close.

Last word

It all began with a young Masaki Sugisaki, bleary-eyed at dawn in a Japanese fish market. Now, tucked away in a refined Chelsea mews, Dinings SW3 – like its “lovely mature tree” – has taken root, growing on its devoted guests with every engrossing bite and every expertly poured glass. A place where each dish tells a story, and each sip reveals another layer, it’s a dining experience which lingers long after you’ve left.