Updated 14/6/21 with opening date
If you, like us, have been missing spending your weekends doing bar crawls of the cave à mangers in Paris or San Sebastian's drinking holes, then this new North London wine bar opening should be right up your street.
The indie project is a family business and a passion project of former Hill & Szrok partner Jimmy Stephenson and his actress wife Anna Shaffer (Harry Potter, The Witcher). They're joined in the enterprise by Luca Mathiszig-Lee, owner of Hill & Szrok.
From Tuesday through to Sunday the space will be a coffee shop by day with Climpson's espressos, pastries and boccadillos on sale. The wine list covers a range of natural and classic European wines. Jimmy put together Hill & Szrok's Star Wine List 2021 and several of those wines will follow him to Hector's.
Come the weekend, from Thursday - Saturday Hector's becomes a wine bar with options by the glass as well as all bottles available to drink in. The menu will be a selection of small plates inspired by the pair's European travels - so think Cantabrian anchovies soaked in olive oil with rose petals along with pate-en-croute made especially for them. They're also going to be inviting guest chefs for takeover weekends and events.
Space-wise there'll be a large central counter that, by day, will be the centre of the shop. And at night it'll turn into the bar. There's also a back room with a central marble table that can be used for wine tastings and also booked as a private dining room. Plus, usefully for the times we're in, there'll be alfresco seating.
"This is our family business, says Jimmy who adds he's "so excited to be bringing a slice of Europe to De Beauvoir. I want to create a spot I would want to buy my wine from but also a place I would feel able to pull up a chair and settle down for an evening. I hope people will feel at home here."
More about Hector's
Where is it? 47-49 Ardleigh Road, N1 4HS
When? 18 June 2021 (as a bottle shop for June, with the bar opening on 22 July.
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @/hectorslondon
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