1. Sabor, Piccadilly

For an authentic taste of Spain

For a welcome break from its haughty neighbors on Heddon Street, slip into the cool lobby of Sabor, where a feast for the senses awaits with diners mingling, sizzling seafood and clinking glasses. Awarded a Michelin star in 2018, the restaurant founded by Nieves Barragán-Mohacho and José Etura quickly became one of the best Spanish restaurants in London. Inside, a large open kitchen is decorated in blue and white Moorish tiles, with the fishmonger’s choice of the day displayed on the ice. Directly opposite is the bar, a beehive of drinkers and diners chatting after work impatiently anticipating those tables of gold dust around a glass of sparkling wine. Watch frenzied chefs chop and flip food as bartenders show off their mixology skills and smooch the customers, as if you’ve stepped into a tapas restaurant on the Andalusian coast.

And what do I order?
From La Rioja to Cadiz, the bar’s bottles come from the most famous wine regions of Spain. Choose from an extensive wine list and take the time to ask the bartenders for their vermouths, gins, sherries and txakolis (a traditional sparkling dry white wine from the Basque Country) – they will be happy to share their know-how. On the cocktail menu, new take on old favorites – grab sangria or negroni, both topped with Fino sherry. There is also a real mastery of the mixologist here. Order the gin-based scented Agua de Valencia: a heady botanical blend of orange blossom, blood orange and cava. Or the fruity Mango Rebujito made from gin with Fino sherry, mint and Spanish mango. Meanwhile, on the tapas menu, order a plate of jamón ibérico from Dehesa de los Monteros served with toast and garlic salsa. Don’t miss the opportunity to slip one, or maybe 10, croquetas payoyo – each a heavenly bite of melted goat cheese and soft potato.

2. The Winemakers Club, Farringdon

For a little I don’t know what

You would be forgiven for thinking that you walked into a 19^e– century French wine cellar, but it’s actually the belly of the Holborn Viaduct – a sort of ‘for those in the know’ place tucked away under bare brick Victorian arches. The musty smell of old rainwater rises in your nostrils as you walk through the dark, cavernous entrance. Inside, scattered throughout the space are time-worn wooden tables and chairs, oak barrels topped with wine bottles filled with candles, seemingly authentic antique plaques on the walls (the site served cellar for over 150 years, so they are very could well be) and even a huge stained glass window overlooking it all. Make no mistake, this is a wine bar showcasing the best of modern viticulture. It’s a shop by day, a wine bar and deli by night, an online wine business, as well as a sister property south of the river in Deptford.

And what do I order?
The staff proudly state that the wine list is constantly evolving. Working with a range of small producers internationally, the list champions bottles that defy modern production conventions and use indigenous ingredients – expect wines that are almost exclusively biodynamic and organic. Right now, oenophiles are adoring the club’s biodynamic Australian wines Tom Shobbrook produced with low intervention in the Barossa Valley, and its new selection of organic Jousset wines produced in the Loire Valley in France. The bar snacks are also worth trying – choose from fatty and lemony snacks boquerones (marinated anchovy fillets) served with sourdough toast, duck rillettes or a decadent raclette toast.