Texture
Texture, on Portman Street, was the final restaurant selected for Wine List Confidential‘s Best for Champagne award this year. It recently retained its Michelin star in the 2020 guide and serves up European food with Scandinavian accents.
Review extract: “Chic, minimalist but cosy too, with blooms and branches, jade-coloured banquettes and Regency cornicing, Texture is Icelandic chef, Aggi Sverrisson’s Nordic-influenced dining room and Champagne bar off Portman Square, betwixt Marble Arch and The Wallace Collection.
At Texture, Polish head sommelier and wine buyer, Alan Bednarski (formerly of Jason Atherton’s City Social and 28:50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen) seeks new wines, rigorously trains his team, and creates cocktails such as the Spicy Hibiscus Bellini featuring lemon zest and Sichuan pepper. Alongside, he finds time to study for the Master Sommelier Diploma which he sits this year.
At the Champagne Bar, Bednarski implores guests to try the “iconic” 2004 Blanc des Millénaires Brut (Charles Heidsieck) with a selection of Icelandic crisps, while those preferring still wine “ought to try Kir Yanni’s young Assytriko,” which he calls “the Chablis of the Mediterranean” from volcanic island, Santorini. Both wines feel invigorated in the “clean and close to nature Scandinavian décor”, designed by chef Sverrisson himself…”
WLC ranking: 45
Address: 34 Portman Street, W1H 7BY
