The Real Wine Drinking Guide: Lyle's
Located on the ground floor of the Tea Building in Shoreditch with an open kitchen and a bar with half a dozen seats, Lyle’s is a British restaurant, par excellence, with an original produce-driven menu. In 2015 it won a Michelin star a mere eighteen months after opening, and was voted 54th in The World’s Best Restaurants 2017. The food reflects the seasons: vibrant and exciting in spring and summer, comforting and fortifying in autumn and winter.
Lyle’s has an à la carte selection at lunch, a set dinner (four courses + snacks) in the evening as well as a bar menu. Typical dishes might include bitter leaves & Berkswell; potted duck & pickles; cured sardines & fermented tomato vinaigrette; suckling kid flatbread, yoghurt & ramson; white asparagus, anchovy, Spenwood & walnuts; cured goose, pheasant eggs & spelt; quail, Tropea onion & damson. Flavour and texture combinations are interesting – sweet, salty, vinegary, smoky, soft, crunchy are skilfully juxtaposed, but the kitchen is not afraid to let a single ingredient shine on its own.
The short-and-extremely-sweet wine list mirrors the kitchen’s seasonal creativity by being very dynamic and changing daily. Presented on a single sheet of A4 paper, the list contains around 20 whites and reds apiece (predominantly from Europe) with always six of each colour by the glass selected for their different taste profile, texture, vinification, price, vintage and country. Wine is viewed as a natural product with a special story, a unique terroir and a singular personality.
Lyle’s is sublime testament to the adage that “less is more”, something recognised by the number of chefs, sommeliers and other members of the trade who enthusiastically frequent this restaurant.
Producers we love: Christian Tschida; Valentin Morel; Barranco Oscuro; Famille Plageoles; La Stoppa; Jacques Lassaigne; Jean Pierre Robinot.
Look out for the lesser spotted: Les Deux Terres; La Sorga; Jean Francois Ganevat; Dominique Belluard; Jean Yves Perron; Sepp Muster, Les Cailloux du Paradis; Julie Balagny; Dominique Derain...
We really like: The Guest Series - collaborations and pop-ups with famous chefs.
Do: Sign up to the newsletter for details of the game menu.
Key wine person: Nominoe Guillebot.
Image courtesy of Anton Rodriguez.