Imbibe magazine: ” Italian Restaurant Wine List of the Year"

Imbibe Magazine describes BIBO as 'a neighbourhood eatery in London’s Putney that bills itself as a ‘bar restaurant’; somewhere that guests can drop in for an aperitivo and some salami, or to have a proper five-course sit-down meal if they’d prefer.'

Imbibe was impressed that BIBO's wine list covered both basis:
'Apart from the broad-minded ‘Italians Abroad’ section of native grapes in the New World, it’s completely Italian (resisting the easy win of putting on some top-end champagne), and it manages to cover plenty of big-name regions (and a few big-hitter producers) without the need to run to dozens of pages. At under 100 bins, it was probably the shortest Italian restaurant list we’ve ever received.

‘Their pre-selection is where the effort has been made,’ said Lam. ‘They have the diner in mind. The wines are appropriate to the cuisine and overall they manage to be an entirely Italian-focused list without overstressing the point.’

Imbibe commented that the wine list is presented pretty traditionally – by region – 'but there are decent tasting notes for every wine that tend, where possible, to tell a story rather than just list flavours found in the glass. And the introductory paragraphs to the various sections add a warming personal touch.'

Owner, Rebecca Mascarenhas, pictured left, told PutneySw15.com:
“We are absolutely thrilled for ourselves and for Putney! When you have put a lot of care into choosing a wine list it is fantastic when wine industry professionals rate it as the best of the best. We've just heard that BIBO has been awarded the Imbibe magazine award for the UK's best Italian wine list. The judges were impressed with the fact that we've looked for interesting wines that represent the best of each Italian region and they also noted how well the wines go with our food.

She continued;
"We're cock a hoop to have won and we hope the award will encourage our customers to explore the wine list further, whether its trying one of our brilliant 'by the glass' selections at the bar or sampling a bottle of something new and different with a meal".

Imbibe's Jade Koch said:
‘The enthusiasm is evident – it draws you in without being overwhelming.’

November 21, 2015