With places like Top Cuvée, Hector’s, Weino BIB, and Bright to name just a few, London’s modern wine bar scene has really come along in the last few years. We are very lucky to live very close to those bars mentioned above and they are some of our absolute favourite places to hang out. Now there’s a new one in the neighbourhood that’s even closer, potentially even dangerously close… yes we can see ourselves spending a lot of time at Cadet, which has just opened on Newington Green.
Even if you don’t happen to live just up the street, Cadet is still very much worth seeking out. It’s been set up by an all-star team; Francis Roberts and Tom Beattie of wine importers Beattie & Roberts, and charcutier George Jephson. Plus heading up the kitchen is chef Jamie Smart who’s previously worked at the likes of Lyles, St John and Brawn.
Having worked at several of London’s best wine bars between them, Tom and Francis started their own importing business a couple of years ago, and the wine list at Cadet is made up entirely of their own selection – no bad thing at all when they are one of the most respected specialist importers in London today. You can also buy the wines to take home too.
Even though it’s only just opened, there’s already a great vibe at Cadet. A long bar with stools is the main focal point of the room, with a large sharing table in the front window and a couple of small high-top tables on the back wall. It’s sleek, stripped back and modern, with lots of natural light and it was absolutely heaving on our recent Saturday night visit. Not a bad transformation from an old burnt-out chicken shop – the guys have done a great job here.
On the food front, there’s a combination of George’s incredible charcuterie and Jamie’s seasonal small plates. On our visit there was a beautiful pâté de campagne, perfectly textured and served with crunchy sliced baguette and gherkins. In future you can expect a few more charcuterie plates but Cadet is so new that George is still getting set up in the basement where he’ll be making all sorts of wonderful things. From Jamie’s menu we tried a spectacular stew of borlotti beans enriched with lamb fat and garlic; fresh tomato, sliced white peach and fennel pollen; mussels with cucumber and dulse; and oysters with gooseberries. All delish and all perfectly pitched.
Wines available by the glass will be changing regularly but we very much enjoyed what we tried on our visit: Anne Laure Langel’s Dans Le Pif, a fresh fruity orange from Alsace; Julie and Toby Bainbridge’s Johnny Popper pet-nat; and a bright summery white from Domaine de Cyprès.
Cadet is already shaping up to be one of the best wine bars in London and we look forward to many more nights spent here.
57 Newington Green, London, N16 9PX
cadetlondon.com