A new wine-focused restaurant and larder on Dalston’s main drag from restaurateur Bob Ritchie and sommelier Dan Whine – great name for a sommelier, eh? – (ex-Conran Restaurants, Plateau, Liberty Wines and trained wine maker). Sapling on Kingsland Road will have a weekly changing list of around 36 wines, including a number of grower Champagnes and other notable sparkling wines, is complemented by food from chef Jon Beeharry (ex-Bistroteque, Market Café, Rita’s at The Prince Arthur). Reservations will be open from Thursday 15 March.
Ritchie and Whine’s vision is to create a friendly and relaxed ‘home from home’ neighbourhood restaurant where they can share their passion for food & wine.
The core wine list at Sapling will focus on varieties from producers who have passion for what they create and express purity of a place with traditional vinification. The aim is to represent a broad spectrum of inspired and inventive interpretations and as a result, most of the wines will by their very nature be sustainable, organic, biodynamic or low-intervention – all available to order by the glass. Additionally, there will be a larger list of over 100 wines available by the bottle or to sample via Coravin, allowing customers to explore wines by variety and region should they wish to.
To complement the bespoke wine list, head chef Jon Beeharry (Bistroteque, Market Café, Rita’s at The Prince Arthur) has created a seasonal menu designed to match the broad range of wines available – in contrast to the traditional role that places wine as an accompaniment to food.
On the menu:
Dusty Knuckle bread, butter
Colchester Rock oysters, horseradish mignonette Selection of seasonal pickled vegetables Gougère, smoked cods roe
Scottish langoustines, carotene butter & Lardo Middle White pork terrine, white grape & watercress Dexter tartar, egg yolk, Ossau
Hake, cockle and potato sauce, monks beard
Delica pumpkin, Castelfranco & hazelnut dressing Medjool date pudding, pistachio Crème anglaise
Set cream, Yorkshire forced rhubarb, blood orange & thyme
Served alongside Jon’s small plates, Sapling will feature a Larder menu which has also been curated to complement the wines on offer, such as: lightly cured, delicately flavoured rare-breed meats from independent producers like Hackney based Black Hand, Cobble Lane, Great Glen in Fortwilliam and Cornish Charcuterie, to name a few. The cheese component of the Larder menu will be primarily from La Fromagerie in nearby Highbury and feature seasonal varieties so, as with the wine, the menu will have a rotating emphasis.
