Wine. A word that commonly arises in most conversations these days. In fact, if I search the word on my phone, I have a list of 10 conversations from WhatsApp in my results. There is even a group entitled “Girls and Wine”….

Perhaps it is down to our alcoholic generation, where we all have our ‘alcohol friends’ whom we meet purely to have a glass (realistically bottle) of something. It ends in Ubers home, and too many cigarettes and little men with hammers in our heads the next morning. At the time, it is totally worth it, but when did we transition into a culture where alcohol equals fun? Why have we got it so wrong when places like Paris get it SO right?

The French have mastered the definition of a balanced meal. A typical meal consists of salad, vegetables, dairy, natural sugar, protein, fibre and a glass of wine, typically red. The British go two ways:

either we eat clean for as long as we can stand it and religiously post pictures of our new diets with smashed avo #healthyliving #mybodyisatemple, losing followers, friends and truth in the process

or we follow these fad diets, yet quickly give up in an almighty huff where ice cream, chocolate, alcohol, cheese, toast and sweets make a guaranteed appearance. I am a culprit of this. Time and time again. Name a diet, I have tried it and my metabolism is now paying the price. The only consolation being that I am susceptible to every virus under the sun, so weight loss comes in rather dramatic and unhealthy forms.

Over the past few months, I have taken on the challenge of helping a pop-up open in Old Street Tube Station. I met the company, The Wondering Wine Company, at Cornbury Festival in July and have been working with them ever since. The team are hilarious and hard-working and friendly and all share a common theme: they want to change the way people eat and drink. And they have already started doing this very well.

Old Street to many people is their closest tube. Their rather depressing four-tunnel walk to the tube. But The Wondering Wine Kitchen, which is open until March 2017, adds a hint of life to the place.

Wine Taps with their own wine scale (Good, Great and Best). A huge selection of wines, especially chosen by the team, with suggested food pairings, all served in GoVino glasses. Take away Bagnums (magnum of wine in a bag – don’t worry it also took me years to break my generalisation of bagged wine). Cheese boards. Charcuterie. Toasties (trust me on this recommendation). Salads. Freshly-made cheese strings.

This pop-up has really given Old Street a new lease of life. So the next time you find yourself close to the area, or want an excuse to find somewhere new, try here. Make sure you meet Marco, the head chef, whose wine knowledge is commendable and makes the meanest toastie. Joe, the youngest on the team, is also an up-and-coming chef and budding musician on the side. Mark Ashmore in the wine pro, Simon the brains behind WWC.

📷 Credits to Appear Here

Find WWK here

Map created by Emma Goodall