News

Wine List of the Week: Labombe by Trivet

24 November 2025 By Douglas Blyde

Isa Bal and Jonny Lake’s second site, Labombe in Mayfair, was hotly-anticipated when it launched in September, following from the highly-acclaimed Trivet. When Douglas Blyde visits he’s impressed by dishes with a “measured heartiness and pleasure” that call for “serious bottles and a line out the door”.

Labombe Mayfair

Isa Bal and Jonny Lake first shaped Trivet on Snowsfields before turning their attention to Mayfair in September, taking over the former Met Bar site on Old Park Lane, once the preferred playground of Kate Moss, the Gallagher brothers, Madonna and George Michael. The address carries long tales of flashbulbs, though Bal and Lake place flavour and, at times, very large bottles at the front. Shortly before doors opened, Bal told db’s Amelie Maurice-Jones: “We don’t have time to get nervous. This is not the time to get nervous, this is the time to do it,” a line which fits the firm stride with which the pair have approached this room.

Design, arranged by the resolutely vinous Turkish architect Umay Çeviker of Derin Yeşil, matches that outlook. Local Google Guide Joe Walters called it “a revelation. A breath of fresh air in a somewhat dismal dining scene in Mayfair”, while Wallpaper noted “colour” from young British artists loaned by Chiltern Street’s Incubator gallery. Living Etc declared “it’s showtime”; The Times urged readers to “go immediately and gape in awe”; and Elite Traveler praised Çeviker’s touch.

Drinks

Jodi Hinds

The photo-rich wine list, with something of a fashion spread about it in tribute to the site’s past, is overseen by Bal and Philipp Reinstaller, 2024 UK Sommelier of the Year (IWSC and the UK Sommelier Academy). Reinstaller’s route runs from tourism studies in Austria to Tantris in Munich, then Dinner by Heston in London and Melbourne, Raffles at The OWO, and Trivet. Bal began his wine journey as a commis sommelier at The Vineyard at Stockcross near Newbury, rising via The Fat Duck, to co-founding Trivet with Lake. Known for saying that “nothing is flatly excluded – our offering is intricate yet simple”, he has long favoured breadth and curiosity, even eyeing Mars for its terroir. He once joked he could “recite ten movies, including The Big Lebowski”, hinting at the warmth behind the analysis.

Organised into the A list (broadly new world) and B (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Brunello), the structure is broad yet disciplined. You may begin with the 2023 Maison Vermentino by Les Vignerons de la Vicomte (£29) or head straight for the 2014 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne at £7,500. Gravner’s 2016 Ribolla Gialla anchors the macerated wines, while Jura appears through Labet’s 2022 Maceration sur Charriere Savagnin and Rolet’s 2016 Vin Jaune. Georgia receives uncommon attention via Dakishvili, Havlabari Cellars, Orgo, Qvevri Wine Cellar and Makashvili. Turkey (sic), echoing Bal’s heritage, is represented by Sevilen, Chamlija and Gürbüz Winery with Papaskarasi, Öküzgözü and Cabernet Franc from Marmara and the Aegean. Given Lake’s Canadian background, Quails’ Gate Family Reserve Chardonnay (2021) from British Columbia appears naturally. English wine surfaces through Rathfinny’s 2020 Blanc de Noirs. The pair also visited an Oxfordshire estate to pick under-ripe grapes for a zero-alcohol cocktail.

By-the-glass pours run from a £9 Txakoli to a 2004 Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco at £65, with a five-litre Gobelsburg Lamm adding spectacle. Other large formats include Gimonnet Special Club magnums and multi-litre Cristal. Masumi Nanago Junmai Daiginjo from Nagano is offered by the glass (£45 per 100ml) or as a 720ml bottle (£270), valued, at once, for its incisive richness. Madeira is shown through H.M. Borges, founded in 1877, with Colheitas from the late seventies to early nineties in Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Boal. Sherries appear from Fino en Rama to Palo Cortado. A trio of Chartreuse in jeroboam draws devoted digestif fanatics, one expression also found in O’Hagan’s Treat with Midleton Very Rare. Coffee is roasted by Assembly; while the Taiwanese oolong is also chosen with care.

Dishes

Labombe Mayfair

Jonny Lake steers dishes, his path stretching from Burlington and Montréal to Liguria and Lombardy, then to his long stretch in Bray where he rose through the ranks of The Fat Duck before founding Trivet with Bal. On our visit, service flowed under the watch of Evan Moore, bearing a notable moustache and the same Bray-to-Melbourne lineage, now settled in Kingston Vale yet fully present in the open kitchen. We began with Pierre Moncuit Delos in feather-light Nude stems shaped in Türkiye. It had depth enough to greet the opening snacks. Bottarga toast landed first, warm, buttery, briny and irresistible; the sort of thing you’d hope to find on a late-night room service menu in a smart hotel like the one next door, and good enough to order again without hesitation, which we did. Then a skewer of duck hearts, tender, with a little char, threaded with cherries which brought a flick of tartness and sweetness to the richness.

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The first plate proper was a pâté en croûte from charcutier, George Jephson, whose small list of restaurant clients includes both Trivet and Labombe. His pastry held a gentle wobble of meat and jelly, lifted by frisée and tiny bright seeds from a mustard made on site. The wine chosen was a bottle of Rolly Gassmann Pinot Gris ‘10, its label battered from years of stocktakes, yet the contents intact, developed, sweet-edged, almost like spun sugar.

Wild Mushroom Pici followed, the strands hand-rolled, coated in an emulsion of Madeira and fermented mushrooms, dotted with girolles and black trumpets barely taken past raw. A bowl which smelled of the forest floor without heaviness, helped along by Masumi’s Autumn sake, its precision refreshing ever slurp.

Then the headline dish: Dutch veal on the bone, almost katsu in its finish, crisp outside, tender within. The table shared pours from a three-litre Kamm Reid Gobelsburg 2020 from Kamptal, whose shape and drive made the match feel natural. Alongside came opalescent monkfish with braised coco beans and green peppercorns, bound by a chicken sauce sharpened with vinegar, taken with an already accessible bottle of Meursault Les Narvaux 2022 from Ballot-Millot. Sides included skin-on fries, firm, dusted with “Turkajun” spice (herbs, paprika, pepper and sumac), plus a plush dip made from charred tomatoes. Kalettes, shown earlier in the starter section, provided the requisite greenery, albeit jazzed up with pork fat vinaigrette, tuna heart and lemon.

Puddings kept up the pace. Crème caramel tinged with tangible Campari brought a jab of bitterness, immediately eased by Yalumba’s botrytis-touched Viognier 2023, its sweetness pulling the dish into harmony. The warm butter tart paid homage to Canada, stylishly worked, and topped with a soft, ripe cheese wedge. My Canadian companion muttered that such an addition back home would earn handcuffs. Reinstaller laughed that it only appears when Jonny is away. The match was a remarkable half-bottle of Niagara Vidal Sparkling Icewine 2022, all marmalade and frost.

To finish, a pour of seldom-seen Chartreuse, rightly labelled “Reine des liqueurs”, drawn from an imposing 300cl bottle of the extra-aged yellow blend. Herbs, honey and a glowing close eased the afternoon into its stride. Unusually, however, Reinstaller had chosen not a single red wine across the entire meal, his pairings leaning instead on the multifaceted texture of whites, sake and liqueurs, a decision which felt purposeful.

Last Sip

Labombe Mayfair

Above the pass, a St. JOHN postcard nodded to Trevor Gulliver and Fergus Henderson, whose devotion to good ingredients aligns with the mood here. In the window sat Andy Hayler, the man who has eaten his way through every three-star on Earth, his presence reading almost like a seal on lunch. What was once an Old Park Lane after-hours magnet now draws people who finally care about what’s on the plate and in the glass. The cooking has a measured heartiness and pleasure to it, the sort of food which calls for serious bottles and a line out the door.