Why The Quality Chop House Chooses the Jancis Robinson x Richard Brendon Glass

Q: The Quality Chop House hit its 150th birthday in 2019. What’s one secret or quirky fact about the restaurant that you wish more people knew from all that time?

A: The Quality Chop House was actually purpose built as a chop house in 1869. Around that time, the first council housing in London was being built in Farringdon, and the chop house was created to cater to the local community, which is what we still do 156 years later.

Q: If you had to pick a food and wine pairing from the menu, what would it be and why?

A: The Mangalitsa loin chop with the Nin-Ortiz, Les Planetes, Priorat ‘21. Mangalitsa is a really special breed of pork, it’s got darker, richer meat and really buttery fat, so you pair it quite differently to normal pork. It’s an absolutely gorgeous combination.

Discover the Jancis Robinson Collection, here.

Q: Your wine list is the perfect length, offering plenty of choice with clear sections for Pinots, bold reds, and magnums! How do you help guests navigate such a wonderful selection?

A: A good trick with the sections in our list is: the Pinot & Co section is good for pork and poultry, the Bordeaux and Bordeaux-like section is good for lamb and leaner beef, and the big reds section is great for fattier cuts like the rib-eye and Mangalitsa. Game is a mixture of all three, depending on the bird.

Q: What’s the funkiest or most surprising wine on your menu?

A: The Domaine Bohn, Schieferberg Zero ‘22. It’s a Riesling and Pinot Gris blend from Alsace, France, with a little bit of skin contact. It’s very low intervention, hence the “Zero,” meaning zero sulphites. It’s got this amazing deep pink-orange colour, subtle tannins, and notes of quince, zest, and really nice minerality. It’s definitely a more interesting option.

Q: The Jancis Robinson x Richard Brendon Wine Glass has made its way onto your tables. What makes the Universal Stem feel like the perfect fit for The Quality Chop House?

A: We have a huge range of wines and a huge range of guests, so we need a glass for everything. The wine glass we use needs to work for an elegant Rheingau Riesling right through to a big, smoky Châteauneuf-du-Pape. On top of that, it needs to work for everything from wine industry tastings to stag dos to first dates, and this glass works perfectly for all of that. There’s nothing worse than ordering a nice bottle of wine and being served it in the wrong glassware. We never have that problem, because this elevated, relaxed, and versatile glass fits our vibe perfectly.

Q: Choosing the right wines is so crucial. How do you go about curating and testing the wine list to be perfect alongside your dishes, and how often do you hunt for new additions to the menu?

A: The way we approach our list is by looking at it as a whole, rather than focusing on specific wines, grapes, or regions. For example, we don’t have a Chardonnay under £100 that isn’t from Burgundy, but we do have plenty of wines that fill that gap. We also place a strong emphasis on seasonality, with rosé and chilled reds appearing in summer, and bigger, fuller-bodied bottles featured in winter.

Our list is heavily guided by our menu. We have quite a few rich whites that pair with the bold flavours in our dishes, as well as a wide range of reds to complement the broad spectrum of steaks and chops we serve.

The Thorne & Daughters Rocking Horse was discovered at a blind tasting, and we knew we had to include it on the menu. It appeared a week or two later. It’s a fascinating blend of Semillon, Chardonnay, Chenin, Roussanne, and Clairette, tasting much like a Rhône white: rich, buttery, with hints of bay leaf. Completely unique.

Q: After a busy service, where’s your favourite spot for a little wind-down drink?

A: We’ve started going to Around Bar, a little bar on Exmouth Market. It’s a super tiny cocktail bar with a nice, compact wine list, complimentary snacks with every round, and really lovely staff.

Find the universal stem, here.