This new convivial wine bar and lounge on Lyndhurst Terrace celebrates French wines, food and savoir-faire.
Terroirs by LQV is the new French kid on the block – and what a breath of fresh air it is. For a start it’s big, spanning more than 2,000 sq. ft, so there’s plenty of space at the bar and between tables in the dining area.
The airy interior, crafted by Hong Kong-based designers LC Studio, features wood, stone and terracotta in soft hues that recall rural France, and gives the space a pleasingly cool feel.
There are also two outdoor terraces that look onto Lyndhurst Terrace, but no one is really interested in these views because there are delicious nibbles and a biblical selection of French wines to focus on.
Biodynamic, organic and natural wines – champagnes, reds, whites and rosés selected from the best domains – feature prominently on the wine list, a weighty tome carrying over 2,000 bottles ranging from under $500 all the way up to $220,000.
“We are first and foremost a wine bar, with our focus proudly fixed on the finest fruits of the vine,” says Hugues Rondouin, founder and director of LQV Group.
“But naturally we are also food lovers, so our dynamic young team continues with French cheesemakers, bakers and butchers, who ensure that the finest quality cheeses and charcuterie are also available to pair perfectly with our wines.”
On the food menu are classics such as croque monsieur made with Charcuterie Bobosse truffle ham – or Portobello mushroom for vegetarians – Janier 18-month Comte cheese and homemade bread; pâté en croûte made entirely in-house with Noir de Bigorre pork and Maison Samaran foie gras; and pissaladière, the famous anchovy and onion tart from Nice.
Cheeseboards served with fruit jam and raw butter, cold cut platters, and homemade bread also make fine accompaniments to the wines.
For dessert, try the killer baba au rhum with homemade biscuit, Chantilly cream and Terroir’s special rum, and/or the chocolate tart made with dreamy Valrhona chocolate, salted butter caramel and Chantilly cream.
On the Wednesday night that we visited Terroirs was full and the atmosphere abuzz with the sound of chatter, laughter, clinking glasses and cutlery at work. It was a positively pre-pandemic, welcome- back-to-good-times experience. And a real joy.
Santé!