Wine on

The candles will be burning once again at Albertine's at the bottom of Wood Lane W12 once again at the end of this month - with the refreshed wine bar maintaining serious connections to the media, and the way it was.

The new owner is Allegra McEvedy - a chef, broadcaster, columnist, author and restaurant fixer - whose late mother Sarah was part of the team that first launched Albertine's. Allegra has cooked at the River Cafe, the Groucho (fired for being caught in the showers with another woman) and the Belvedere, and was head chef at The Cow in Notting Hill aged 24. She's run the kitchen at Robert De Niro's Tribeca Grill and was one of the founders of Leon, the smart/healthy fast food chain. She's been a Guardian columnist, a judge on Junior Bake-Off, and, recently, a consultant on menu changes at the River Terrace on the South Bank.

Her chef/partner for Albertine's is Roberto Freddie, promising all day coffee and bacon rolls, simple lunches downstairs (White bean and wild garlic soup with hazelnut pistou, Oven-baked ciabatta roll ‘Saltimbocca’) and posher stuff upstairs. But still with lots of wine. Which is good.