Provisions Wine & Cheese: Cult grocer to London’s top restaurant opens second site in Hackney

A grocer that supplies some of London’s top restaurants — including, among others, the likes of Michelin-starred Wild Honey, Laughing Heart, and the Barbary — has opened a second site on Hackney Road, which includes its own chef’s table and wine bar.

Following widespread success on Holloway Road, founder Hugo Meyer Esquerré has moved closer to home for his new spot, which will sell the luxury cured meats, patés, preserves, tinned goods, and spreads that the original is known for, alongside organic, biodynamic and natural wines, and a huge array of cheeses. Provisions also offers monthly wine and cheese subscriptions, as well as hampers.

Besides the fridge-fillers, there will also be a small sandwich menu put together by the chef Maximilien Truel, who previously worked at Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social and Frenchie. These will be available for takeaway; perhaps more excitingly, the new Hackney spot features its own chef’s table, seating 12, in a downstairs bar space that will host supper clubs, wine tastings, talks and DJ nights. Meyer Esquerré is hoping to launch the spot in September.

Meyer Esquerré told the Standard of the opening: “Opening a second shop felt like a natural step for us. Choosing Hackney made sense as there are so many businesses I feel very close to, especially on Hackney Road, which is a great spot, as we are right in between Columbia Road and Broadway Market.

“When that site became available during the pandemic, I did not think twice and went full steam in trying to get it. I always wanted to open another shop, one that would be slightly different from the first one, one that also highlights the journey Provisions has made since its first days in November 2015, a combination of all the things we learnt, the things that worked and the ones that have not, a possibility also to introduce the producers we met and the European regions we visited.

“We also are lucky to have a brilliant team that is really passionate in what they are doing. The second shop opening would have never been even imaginable without their involvement.”

The pandemic seems to have somewhat suited Provisions, perhaps because Londoners became more concerned with what they were eating at home. Besides the new shop, Meyer Esquerré launched the Provisions Wine School in May last year, a course that concentrates only on organic and natural wines.

Provisions Hackney Road is open now at 308 Hackney Road, E2 7SJ. For more information, visit provisionslondon.co.uk