Former Scott’s team opens wine cheese and charcuterie venue

07-Oct-2014 - Last updated on 27-Apr-2021 at 12:39 GMT

Verden focuses in wine, cheese and charcuterie

Former Mayfair restaurant Scott’s head maitre d’ Ed Wyand has opened Hackney wine bar and restaurant Verden with head chef Tom Fraser (also from Scott’s).

Focusing on cheese, wine and charcuterie alongside a seasonal menu, the restaurant also offers takeaway in its converted East London pub location.

For lunch, the menu includes a two-course £10 option and a three-course £12 option and from 6pm each day the dinner menu serves a selection of home-made bar snacks such as duck rillettes, and mains such as red mullet, saffron potatoes and mussels, and heather-fed lamb, kale and girolles.

Weekend brunch dishes include the Verden club sandwich and a pulled pork bun, harissa mayo and fried pickles, alongside ‘breakfast wines’ and aperol spritzes.

Wine list

Cheese and charcuterie boards are available all day, and the wine list features bottles from regions like Jura (France), California (USA), Goriska Brda (Slovenia) and classics like Burgundy (France) and Piedmonte (Italy).

Verden uses the Coravin, allowing many more bottles to be available by the glass. Bottles start from just £18 (Domaine De La Semellerie, Chinon Rouge, 2012), aiming to be the most accessible quality wine list in the capital.

The restaurant’s design and interiors are inspired by Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetic principles, with produce on display for diners in the basement’s cold room vaults, and the two floors transformed into two contemporary rooms available for private hire. The furnishings include turned wooden light fittings and crockery handmade by Billy Lloyd.

Verden, 181 Clarence Road, London, E5 8EE.