28°-50° Wine Workshop & Kitchen

Time Out says

Wed Oct 19 2011

This exciting collaboration between sommelier Xavier Rousset and executive chef Agnar Sverrisson (their second, following haute cuisine restaurant Texture) is focused on wine, but has much more attention on food than the average wine bar.

You can eat from the bar or restaurant menu in either area; both are informally furnished with rough-hewn wood tables and teal blue walls hung with mirrors and restrained wine-abilia.

The bar menu lists a handful of charcuterie and cheese accompaniments; the restaurant menu is French-oriented, with British accents conferred by much of the produce.

Starters of tangy whitebait, prawns and capers on toast and beet salad indicated that something special was happening in the kitchen; Devon cod served with foraged seashore herbs and vegetables confirmed it.

Wine comes from either of two lists. One is 40-strong and eminently explorable – seldom repeating a grape variety, and with everything available in sampler glasses.

The other is a fine wine list, unusually compiled: 28°-50° effectively acts as an agent for collectors selling stock; there are some celebrated vintages from heavy-hitting winemakers. This system sometimes (though not always) results in good value. A grape or producer of the month is honoured with a special section.