London Epicerie: Belgravia's New Food Shop From London Cheesemongers
Belgravia is about to gain the kind of shop that makes a neighbourhood work. London Epicerie, a food shop designed around daily life rather than the occasional treat, is billed to open this month at 65 to 69 Ebury Street. It comes from the people behind London Cheesemongers on Pavilion Road, so it has a strong Knightsbridge pedigree before a single shelf is stocked.
Who is behind it
London Epicerie is the work of Jared Wybrow and Raissa van Dijk. Wybrow has worked in food for more than 30 years: he started out as a chef, moved to Neal's Yard Dairy and in 2016 opened London Cheesemongers at 251 Pavilion Road. Van Dijk, originally from Rotterdam and with a background in clinical psychology, has managed London Cheesemongers for the past three years. The new shop draws on the network of growers and producers the pair have built up over more than a decade behind that counter.
What will be on the shelves
The idea is to combine the convenience of a weekly grocery shop with the knowledge of a specialist, so that nobody has to choose between quality and ease. Expect seasonal produce, fresh bread, dairy, farmhouse cheese, charcuterie, wine and pantry essentials under one roof, along with prepared foods and carefully chosen daily essentials for the evenings when cooking from scratch is not on the cards. The named suppliers read like a well-edited larder:
- Westcombe Dairy in Somerset for clothbound Cheddar, and L'Etovas for raw milk Alpine cheeses
- Alma Bakery for bread and Long Lane for small-batch dairy
- Noja Progetto Agricolo for ancient-grain pasta, Piro for Tuscan olive oil and Bonini for balsamic vinegar
- Maison Marc for cornichons, Ham and Cheese Co for charcuterie and Clifton Coffee Roasters for coffee
Two specialists complete the team. Daniel Garcia Thomas, formerly head sommelier at Brat, oversees the wine programme, with a focus on growers across both established and emerging regions. Edmund Swinburn, a nutritional therapist trained at London's College of Naturopathic Medicine, advises on nutrition and everyday eating, which suggests a shop as interested in a good Tuesday supper as in a dinner party.
The space
Designer Deidra Hodgson has taken her cue from the traditional food shops of Europe. Light oak and stone finishes set the tone, and an architectural grid of shelving and display structures gives the room its rhythm. Crates, shelving and preparation areas are built into the architecture rather than added as decoration, and the layout is meant to slow the pace of a shop down a little, which is rather the point of the whole enterprise.
Before you go
Opening dates for new shops have a habit of moving, so check the London Epicerie website, where you can sign up for store updates, before making a special trip. Ebury Street is an easy walk from Sloane Square or Victoria, and the shop pairs naturally with a cheese run on Pavilion Road. For more independent shops nearby, see our shopping guide.
Lead image: Ewan-M via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
