LondonNet Restaurant Review: Colebrooke's Wine Bar
69
Colebrooke Row
Islington London N1 8AA
Sun-Mon: 11.00-22.30 Tues-Wed: 11.00-23.00 Thu-Sat: 11.00-24.00
020 7226 7517
Tube: Angel
A Local Foreign Flavour
Colebrooke's easy-going culture makes a local place truly loveable...
Angel is fast becoming a bastion of weekend culture. You can hardly take a jaunt down the high street without smacking into a hen party or group of over-groomed lads, and although the area is still fighting admirably to retain its locally owned businesses, you can't ignore that the Slug and Lettuce has already infiltrated the ranks.
Still, Angel residents are feisty and proud, and it is for them that I say: thank God for Colebrooke's.
Formerly of the pizza fame (having been Toni Moroni’s Italian eatery for 25 years), Colebrooke's endearingly small eatery/drinkery is tucked quietly down Colebrooke Row. Aside from a few antiques market stragglers accidentally eyeing their pink-velour covered chairs, it has garnered a distinct word-of-mouth presence even only in the first few months.
Huge windows gather-in the small cobbled side street, where tables perch outside under a huge canopy. The idea behind Colebrooke's, according to Felix Cemmell, the General Manager, was to recreate a small Parisian venue, and it is evidently working. The whole place drips with a kind of subtle, dignified taste. Simple wood tables and antique chairs line the tile floor, and kissable lampshades hug the corners. The bar is minute - only three stools - but it doesn't matter as you'll probably be hugging the people at the next table before the night is through, anyway.
The music is jazz, probably French, and a stack of ancient board games sits idly waiting for takers. Don't get me wrong: Colebrooke's isn't about the décor. It's just that there aren't any garish, opulent couches or tinkling lights, and it's surprisingly noticeable. Immensely refreshing, too.
No, Colebrooke's is about the wine. Good, respectable wine. The drinks menu includes red, white and champagne, plus a separate list for Rosé (Cemmell's admitted weakness) and desert wine. It seems that all have been carefully, laboriously chosen, with the only Californian being an edgy Merlot (hallelujah!). The list even includes an intriguing and rare Lebanese Cabernet-Sauvignon/Cinsault/Carignan blend. A delightful pleasure for hedonists, it will continue to grow as Cemmell promises to increase the list with some good contacts and more hunting. Not into wine? Don't cry. Despite knowing more about wine than is probably healthy, Cemmell speaks slowly and kindly, and is just as fanatical about her wine as she is about her whisky (of which she also carries a good selection) and of Colebrooke's, in general.
In terms of food, Colebrooke's is lucky to have partnered with esteemed deli La Fromagerie, who provides an intricate selection of delicacies. A variety of patés accompany a fine assortment of cheeses, including the melt-in-your-mouth-make-you-want-to-die-and-be-reincarnated-as Chevre Buche and a headier Epoisses Affine (a learned taste, but great with some of Colebrooke's drier wines). The best part of Colebrooke's food menu are their lazy-Susan sharing platters, especially the Antipasti, which contains a respectable culling of meats, cheeses, and fabulous sun-dried tomatoes.
More than anything, Colebrooke's is a surprise. A wine bar without a pompous wait staff and raffish furnishings? A place to actually sit and relax, without imbibing incense and terrible electronica? A menu without anything that screams tapas? It seems to good to be true.
As Colebrooke's winds into fall and becomes more established in Angel, you'll be able to find out. But my guess is this is another burgeoning Angel icon, blessed from the good karma of Mamma Moroni and the tradition of keeping local things, local.
Megan M. Retka
