London & South East Premier Hospitality

Vinoteca arrives at King’s Cross

Vinoteca, King’s Cross, London
Written by Roma Publications

Vinoteca, King’s Cross, London

Inspired by the wine bars of Spain and Italy, a new Vinoteca wine bar and restaurant is opening imminently on a prime site on the ground floor of One Pancras Square, King’s Cross.

Entered from King’s Boulevard, the 2,228 sq. ft. ground floor space houses a wine bar, 90-cover restaurant and a wine shop.

The project to create the new venue was carried out by WPL Interiors; designers were CantorMasters.

Vinoteca owners Charlie Young and Brett Woonton spent a year looking for the site, and chose King’s Cross for its valuable blend of high footfall and the excitement of a new business and residential destination. The new opening is the fifth in Vinoteca’s portfolio and will cater for the whole day from business breakfasts to nightcaps, 7am-midnight.

The design of the new venue is geared to creating a friendly and welcoming atmosphere in which the Vinoteca team serves high quality, characterful wines from a list of over 260, also available to take home, and simple yet imaginative food created from fresh, seasonal produce.

One notable feature of Vinoteca’s wine list is the range of Bag-in-Box wines. These are premium wines imported directly from the producer and decanted into fresh, sterilised bottles each day. The wines are transported in 10-litre boxes, which keep them perfectly fresh, and then bottled in refillable bottles on site to be drunk in the bar or taken away.

Chefs at each Vintoca venue use similar inspiration, but their food has its own identity and they each produce their own daily changing menus.  There are only three things in common with all their restaurants – bread freshly baked on the premises, cured meats imported directly from Jabugo in Spain, and Vinoteca’s outstanding bavette steak.

Everything is freshly prepared on site with the focus on fresh and seasonal, mostly British, usually local and always good value.

Vinoteca, King’s Cross, London

Charlie Young said:

“We’re thrilled to be opening in Kings Cross and it’s a tremendously exciting move for us. Like all our branches, this site will keep a strong sense of identity with a striking new design from CantorMasters, as well as representing what we do best at Vinoteca – great wine and seasonal food in a relaxed atmosphere. We have a large, dedicated area for our wine shop this time and can’t wait to supply the large range of great value, hand chosen wines to the King’s Cross business and residential population, as well as commuters and tourists.”

Richard Poyser of Argent LLP (the asset manager for King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership), added:

“We are really excited to be welcoming Vinoteca to One Pancras Square: it will add another layer to the existing mix of innovative and exciting food experiences at King’s Cross.”

Vinoteca opened their first site in Farringdon in 2005, taking the enotecas of Spain and Italy that double as wine shops as its inspiration.

Waiting five years before opening a sister site, the owners branched out into Marylebone in 2010, with a site in Soho opening in May 2010, followed by Chiswick in September 2013.

Brett’s Woonton’s early experience includes stints in wine retail in his native New Zealand and fine dining service in Australia, The Cayman Islands and London. A total of over 10 years with highly respected Enotria Wine Cellars and Liberty Wines has provided him with enviable experience of the British wine trade with particular emphasis on the wines of Italy.

Holding a similar diploma in Hotel Management to Brett Woonton, Charlie Young gave Brett the grounding to embark upon experience in the Channel Islands, West Indies, Germany and England, before moving to the drinks trade where his first position was selling Tetley’s Bitter to working men’s clubs in Yorkshire. Experience in the wine trade in France and Australia followed, before landing at Liberty Wines’ doorstep where he met Brett. The rest is history.

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Roma Publications