Fortnum & Mason’s wine bar – a smart timbered cabana – is further reason to visit this venerable emporium’s positively edible food halls. Discover this hidden gem in the lower ground floor of the Piccadilly store, offering a wide selection of wines and a complementary food menu. Being concealed inside the store, the space gives off a speakeasy ambience with the beautiful white brick archway ceiling and the striking central bar. The ceiling feature, together with the light woods and woven fabric chairs helps to brighten up the bar area, making for a luxurious underground drinking haunt.
Open daily from midday, guest can either choose to dine at tables or at the exquisite black marbled bar on high barstools. Gaze upon the wide selection of wines in the chilled cellar behind the bar while nibbling on charcuterie or cheeses and feel glamorous with a glass of vino in hand.
Look for the Champagne of the month or choose any bottle of wine from an impressive range and pay just £15 corkage: around £50 secures a lush own-label Bordeaux, while a slightly larger outlay brings a beefy Barolo 2013 or an Aussie Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley. Alternatively, try regional wines in flights of three to go with something small from the cheese bar including Cropwell Bishop Stilton and the Spanish Rey Silo Massimo, rock oysters with a choice of vinaigrettes, caviar, Ibérico ham and suchlike.
Otherwise, bar snacks such as parmesan cheese straws and tempura purple sprouting broccoli are great options. If you’re looking for something larger, choose a plate of steak tartare, or Fortnum’s selection of three cheeses and two charcuterie platter. The pasta of the day is also available during the week and served with a glass of Italian wine.
Cocktails include the fizzy Hunter-Gatherer with nettle cordial, rose pouchong tea, cranberry bitters and topped with sparkling wine, and a Negroni selection with the Earl Grey infused Lady Marmalade, while the dress code “leans towards elegance” – this is Piccadilly not Palma Nova, after all.