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One of, if not our favourite wine destination in London, Passione Vino is the brainchild of Luca Dusi. The co-founder of this brilliant Italian wine shop and wining/dining space, Luca (wine sage and host extraordinaire) tells us about a few of his favourite things.
For London restaurants, I love… for casual, The Marksman (and am anxiously waiting the reopening of The Bull and Last); for fine dining, it’s Hélène Darroze at The Connaught. I’ve been there six times, and have never had a bad course…
With the boys, we love to celebrate at every possible occasion and very often we end up at Hill & Szrok at Broadway Market, a local butcher who turns into a restaurant at sunset. It’s a protein cathedral, uber formal, friendly and with great wines too! If I celebrate with my wife, we love C London, where the meringata cake is to die for (and I am not crazy about desserts).
Apart from Passione Vino, to drink wine it has to be Noble Rot. Great by-the-glass selection – vintage stuff or from acclaimed wineries, but also newcomer wines; they never get it wrong, and there are always surprises…
And to buy wine, again, apart from at Passione Vino, it has to be Fortnum and Mason for classic; Hedonism for iconic; Crouch End Cellar (my local) for a last minute stunner.
My favourite part of my job is travelling. Sniffing out new producers and listening to their stories. I also love when we do blind tasting, when you need to shut yourself off and only rely on flavours, emotions and memories to reach a verdict…
I never think of yesterday and am obsessed with tomorrow, but I’d tell my younger self… to waste less time by investing in finding the right team! But it still takes some luck.
For the holidays this year… we will shut from 21 December to 6 January, with some great news for 2020 but it’s still a secret, so stay tuned.
