New on Wine List Confidential: Marianne

The wine list is the work of Roberto Della Pietra, sommelier and actor who actually played a sommelier in the film ‘Burnt’, starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller. His aim at Marianne is to evolve the list around a menu “developed with strictly seasonal ingredients”.

Marianne is the finely calibrated, bijou (just 14 seats!) eponymous Notting Hill Mews salon of Marianne Lumb, finalist of BBC’s MasterChef the Professionals.

Perhaps in reference to her popular book, ‘Kitchen Knife Skills’ (also a sell-out course at Leith’s Cookery School) an armoury of various daggers can be glimpsed through the rectangular glass partition betwixt couth dining room and diligent kitchen, from which plates showing clear flavours lavishly emerge.

The wine list is the work of Roberto Della Pietra, sommelier and actor who actually played a sommelier in the film ‘Burnt’, starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller. His aim at Marianne is to evolve the list around a menu ‘developed with strictly seasonal ingredients.’

Dishes from the vegetable tasting menu may include braised artichokes with baby onions and coriander cress, and wild mushrooms with black quinoa and chives with optional black truffle. Meanwhile, ‘Dinner Deluxe’ could feature olive oil poached Brixham lobster with confit carrots, and Forest of Dean Muntjac deer with cavolo nero, pear and tingly Sichuan pepper, followed by grand, sheer soufflé of cocoa nibs with poached quince sorbet and crème de cassis ganache.

Given the ‘tiny’ wine selection (around 60 labels) Della Pietra notes it is ‘easier to always introduce new and interesting bottles’ leading to new discoveries for those lucky enough to be able to make this their local.

Della Pietra describes the wine and food matching philosophy, shared with Marianne, as ‘about creating contrast of different flavours and sensations rather than just matching like-for-like flavours.’ Around 70% of customers are happy to opt for prescribed pairings, ‘and be taken into a journey with our pairings where we match different, obscure and eclectic wines, such as Lebanon (Château Belle-Vue ‘La Renaissance’), Turkey (Fumé Blanc ‘900’) and Croatia (orange Pinot Noir from Jeroslav Springer), balanced with classic Burgundy, Loire and the Rhône.’ The small venue also sees also fires out the big guns from Barolo, Bordeaux and Napa.

Worth noting the couth selection of single estate coffees by Difference Coffee Co., too (Kona Gold Rum, Jamaican Blue Mountain, and Wild Kopi Luwak Grand Reserve) as well as teas and infusions – such as Sri Lankan Lemongrass.

Wine List Confidential, brought to you by the drinks business, is the first platform to rank London’s restaurants on the strength of their wine list alone, providing a comprehensive guide to the best restaurants in the capital for wine lovers.

Restaurants are graded on a 100-point scale based on five criteria: size, value, service, range and originality. For a full guide to London’s best wine lists visit winelistconfidential.com

the drinks business published the inaugural 2017 Wine List Confidential: One to Sixty-One guide last year. We are currently working on a new 2018 edition and are busy re-reviewing top-scoring restaurants and adding new entries to the database. Check back later in the year for final scoring and position of restaurants.