The Remedy (Bar)

Top 10 things you need to know about The Remedy:

1) Bars in Fitzrovia are just as cool as bars in Soho. Deal with it!

2) Part of the reason is this wine bar and restaurant near Great Portland Street. Oenophiles will want their ashes cast here.

3) Even if you’re not a hardcore wine lover, and you’ve got a handle on your wine drinking habits, you’ll still love The Remedy. It has 250 bins, from small independent producers; many organic, biodynamic, or rare. Words like Jacob’s Creek and Hardy’s are considered profanities.

4) Observe the surroundings. Blues music: suitable for wine quaffing and nattering. Feel how cosy the occupants of this small, bare-brick room make it. Most of these smiling faces have been here before. Some would call them regulars, but they’re anything but regular. You’ll soon be one of them.

5) Settle in for the long haul. You won’t be here for a quick drink. Grab a seat at the copper bar to ensure one-to-one interaction with the star of the show: Danny, the effervescent sommelier.

6) Start with a vermouth aperitif, made from good Italian wine, naturally.

7) As well as wine-by-the-glass options, there are two wine lists. The first: confidently split into sections such as Quench, Cleanse and Nourish. You’ll experience all of these verbs by the end of your stay. It’s not called The Remedy for nothing. This wine list also includes the cellar reds and whites. These are expensive, older wines, but thanks to the clever Coravin device, you can buy half bottles of amazing wine without pulling the cork. As for the second wine list; you can’t ask for it; it will only be offered. As the wine choice is overwhelming, leave it with Danny. Engage with him and he will educate.

8) The refreshingly sparse food menu of small dishes - each no more than four quality ingredients - makes selection very easy. The oysters - only £1 each from 4-6pm weekdays and all day Saturday (!) - should not be overlooked. The skin-on pumpkin, tart goats curd and nuts become distinguished when coupled with a glass of dry Peter Jakob Kuhn Riesling. The unique Vignammare coastal Sicilian white wine tastes and smells of the sea, and is therefore ideal with octopus.

9) They also serve beer. Clearly, they can do no wrong.

10) The Remedy: a panacea for all life’s woe’s and ills. Feel warmed, heart and soul. ...read more