Charlie Mellor: "I've never had any money but I've always had a lot of wine."
Like a lot of restaurants, he has had to reduce his stock holding with the main list at the Hackney restaurant going from 300 to 60 references.
Speaking on the Restaurant podcast, Mellor says he's hoping to achieve more focus and to move through wines as the menu changes.
"It's always been an interesting game that I've played - I've never had any money but I've always had a lot of wine. That's a complicated combination of things to manage," he says.
The pricing strategy has remained broadly similar but there is more of an emphasis on affordable wines.
Running alongside the main list is a small but wide-ranging selection of wines from Mellor's private collection.
"I'm really enjoying it. It will enable us to rebuild the cellar over time," he continues. "It means that we're not making commitments to our suppliers that we're not able to honor right now."
"In theory I'm still working with anyone and I like the idea of being able to support lots of different importers buy placing small orders here and there but i also like to support them by being able to pay on time."
On the podcast, Mellor also discusses his delivery platform Big Night, which he launched in partnership with tech product manager Pavel Baskakov.
Big Night says it's on a mission to transform the way customers experience high quality food from independent restaurants. Current partners include AngloThai, Levan and Luca.
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