Wine fanzine which spawned small London restaurant wins prize at prestigious World Restaurant awards

A wine fanzine which spawned a small London restaurant has won an award at the prestigious World Restaurant Awards. Two friends who bonded in a wine shop over their love of Burgundy and decided to start a magazine, then a restaurant, became the only UK winners at the award show, held on Monday in Paris, as they won the prize for best wine list. 

At the awards, the pair were credited with being the “driving force in making wine bars cool again.”

The inaugural awards ceremony represented 10 countries across four continents, chosen across 18 categories.

Dan Keeling, who used to work at a record company, became friends with wine buyer Mark Andrew who worked in the wine shop next door. Together, they decided to start a magazine about music and wine, called Noble Rot, which they made from their houses.

Mr Keeling told The Telegraph: "I used to go and buy wine off him. I think we probably bonded over a love of Burgundy.

"We started the magazine from our houses, it was very much done at home, I used to work in the music industry , and Mark worked in a wine shop right next to where I worked, that's how we met. We wanted to write about music and food and wine, a lot of other wine magazines would present it very much in a vacuum.

"The people and places are what make wines so much more fascinating."

The magazine became a success - featuring star-studded guest writers such as Nigella Lawson and Brian Eno.

Two years later, they used their expertise along with that of Michelin-starred chef  Stephen Harris to open a little wine bar-slash-restaurant in Bloomsbury.

Their restaurant, now hugely popular among foodies in the Capital, is focused on English and French recipes crafted from seasonal ingredients, as well as a lovingly-chosen wine list.

Dan Keeling told The Telegraph: "We started as a magazine in 2013 in February and a few issues in, three years later we opened our restaurant and wine bar.

"We started off doing 1,000 copies of our first magazine and the idea was to mix wine, food, music and the creative arts."

He said their success may  be explained by how they try to make great wines accessible.

Mr Keeling explained: "What we wanted to do was have a diverse wine list of the most exciting wines in the world, we also wanted to have old mature vintages of wines that are hard to find. We also don't have huge margins on the wines on the top of the list so people actually drink the wines and enjoy them, rather than just looking at them. 

"In most restaurants you'll have new vintages at very high prices."

The menu is specially selected to go with the wines on their list, and they try to stay sustainable.

He said: "It changes all the time, it's ingredients lead in what's the best thing we can find in the market at the time, it's seasonal and evolves all the time and reflects the wines that we have on the list.

"We have lots of dishes that go great with the wine. 

"Something the customers love which goes on and off the menu is turbot  which is braised in oxidized Batard-Montrachet. There's been a big problem with white burgundies oxidising too early and becoming more like sherry and instead of throwing it away we put it in a sauce."