Eating (and drinking) a cow at Vinoteca

Eating out is a gamble, right? In the space of one year, I had two meals at Brawn in Columbia road; the first was probably the best meal I've had in the capital, and the second shambolically average. Our local restaurants are all very good, most of the time. There are three words, though, that ring out over all of London like the peal of church bells, reminding us that there's always a haven of bankable flavour in Farringdon. Vinoteca Bavette Steak.
Vinoteca is the only place in London that we've been going to regularly since we moved here. It has such confidence in itself that it can do things few places can - prices are fair, the wine list has plenty of fascinating things on or under the £30 mark, and the service is always surprisingly efficient (even when there every square inch of the place is crammed with optimistic couples queueing for a table whilst nibbling on some top-notch charcuterie - see above).
I had a glass of the lively, peach and blossom scented Surrey Gold from Denbies - light and with an attractive natural sweetness, it was a good aperitif, like the slightly nervy cousin of an Edelzwicker wine from Alsace. The bottle above is a 2008 'Bull's Blood' from Bolyki in Hungary. Great stuff - quite complex red fruits on the nose, and big on savoury flavour. Only 13% alcohol, too.
I'd buy it again and pay a bit more attention next time...most of my senses were tuned onto the steak. As ever, they work magic with the humble bavette here. It has a remarkable texture - juicy like a steak but with the (good) chewiness of a braising cut. The charring runs through the sweet, deeply seasoned meat at just the right level. There are great wads of it thrown over the plate, with enormous crisp but fluffy chips and a Cafe de Paris butter that frankly doesn't stand a chance against a hunk of iron of this quality. It's more of a lubricant, and does a very good job at it. I'm certainly glad we're past the slightly irritating 'chorizo butter' stage it went through a few years ago. It's perfect. Don't change it please. Ever.

Dinner and wines from Chateau Tahbilk and De Bortoli at the Wapping Project

Had a really good time at the Wapping Project last week, set in a stunning old hydraulic power station in a quiet part of one of the most interesting and historical parts of London. Excuse the terrible photo - it's a dark, cavernous and very atmospheric space. The food was very good - special mention goes to a fabulous charcuterie plate (I'm sure it's the same supplier as The Empress in Victoria Park, home of the king of charcuterie plates!) and a beautifully cooked middlewhite of pork with braised chard. Dessert, a bitter chocolate pot with tea-soaked prune was unfortunately seriously light on bitter chocolate.
The wine list is almost exclusively Australian, basing itself around an impressive collection of small-to-medium sized producers. We had a 2008 Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne, which came out far too cold but opened up to a classic nose of honeysuckle, lime cordial and yellow grapefruit, the palate a fine balance of pithiness and floral sweetness. The style isn't about refreshment and acidity, and perhaps you want a bit more of that with quite hearty food. What it is about is those delicate floral and citrus flavours and how they'll develop over time. It's still young.
What stole the show was a glass of De Bortoli Old Boys 21yr-old tawny. This was very memorable, with layers of prune, dried fig, walnuts and chestnut honey on the nose. The palate is long and complex, delivering more of those figs and roast walnuts, as well as a slight caramel sweetness and serious acidity. The acidity really surprised me - it's formidable and bounds the whole wine together.