Hot 4 U’s Matthew Scott to launch first permanent restaurant with Wingnut Wines' Charlie Carr

Called Papi, the restaurant will be located on Mentmore Terrace by London Fields and be a partnership between Scott and Charlie Carr of independent natural wine bar Wingnut Wines; the pair having previously collaborated on a number of pop-ups this year. 

Split across two floors, it will feature a ground floor dining room seating around 28, and a cocktail bar beneath with room for 14 more.

The food menu will reflect Scott's passion zero-waste cooking with a focus on regeneratively-reared meat and sustainable seafood, and take cues from both Hot 4 U and his time cooking at Cub in Hoxton.

“I’m approaching the food at Papi as based on my days at Cub – a menu that is synergetic with the seasons with sustainability at its very core – but with a Hot 4 U face lift,” says Scott.

“The relationships we share with our producers will define the dishes available but the tone in which this is delivered will have fun at the very forefront.”

The dining room will feature an open kitchen with counter seating, and serve a menu combing snacks, small plates and larger sharing dishes. 

Meanwhile, the cocktail bar downstairs will be a flexible space for pre or post dinner drinks and a shorter menu of Papi snacks, as well as karaoke, events, and private hire.

As with his bar at Netil Market, Carr will champion small, under-represented producers through the wine list at Papi and feature a daily-rotating selection available by the glass, as well as a scratch list of rare, one-off bottles.

Wines will also be available to buy and take home from the bottle shop.

“At Papi I want to create a wine programme that not only showcases underrepresented natural wine but one that is constantly changing and above all, is about the enjoyment of drinking wine,” says Carr. 

“We’ll work with importers who focus on very small productions around Europe and beyond. One of the great pleasures of natural wine for me is that, like food, not everything is available year-round – bottles appear for a few weeks and then disappear till the next vintage.”

Scott launched Hot 4 U in lockdown​​ as a delivery-only brand, before moving it into the pop up and pub residency space.