New Wine Pricing At London Restaurant

Season Kitchen in Finsbury Park has worked out its own alternative to the percentage mark-up scheme for pricing wine in restaurants.

Instead of charging a percentage of the bottle's overall cost, the restaurant has introduced a flat rate of £7 across its total range.

The move will allow people to enjoy more expensive wines for a cheaper cost, giving diners an opportunity to broaden their appreciation of the grape on offer.

Owner Neil Gill said: 'We are all about offering value. For a £5 bottle, £4 is to cover costs of packaging, marketing etc, and so by spending a pound more you can effectively double the quality of the wine. Multiply that the way we do and you are getting people to drink better wine.'

Among the premium wines people can enjoy for less under the scheme are Gerard Tremblay Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir 2008 for less than £50 and a Benito Urbina Rioja Gran Reserva Especial, 1994 at £37.

Mr Gill added: 'We are in austere times and I think it could catch on.'

Meanwhile, top London chefs have offered tips for cheap eats in the capital.

Tom Aikens, of Tom Aikens restaurant, pointed people in the direction of Polpo, on Beak Street.

He said: 'Russell Norman is so clever: He has created a handful of restaurants that are so spot-on for the times, and his food concepts are so simple but they work. Fun, urban, relaxed, inexpensive.'

But speak to Joel Antunes, of Kitchen Joel Antunes, and you will be directed instead to Covent Garden.

He said: 'Les Deux Salons. Anthony Demetre's cooking is outstanding and I think that their set lunch menu at £15.95 for three courses is a phenomenal bargain.'

Shane Gladstone