Thursday 19 November is Beaujolais Nouveau Day, and the wine bars and bistros we love are tapping barrels, cooking Lyonnais menus and, in one case, throwing a party in the street.
If you have never done it, here is the quick version. Beaujolais Nouveau is the first wine of this year’s harvest, picked just weeks ago and released at one minute past midnight on the third Thursday of November. It is Gamay, light and juicy, and you drink it young and a little chilled.
It is a fairly new tradition, really, going back to the 1950s. Instead of holding the wine, growers started selling it within weeks of the harvest, and it became a race to get the first bottles out, with “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” as the slogan. It is an excuse for a good night out, and London does it very well. Here is where we would be:
Sune
Sune does the full day, and the street party is the part we would not miss. From 5pm they tap the Obora barrel and bottle the Nouveau on the spot, with Lyonnaise hot dogs on the barbecue and oysters from their neighbours at Fin & Flounder. Before that there is a three-course Lyonnaise lunch with guest chef Will Gleave, and the à la carte dinner inside goes Beaujolais for the night. They say the barrel is gone by 9pm, so go early. That goes double for parents: lunch or the first hour of the party works well before bedtime.
Details: Thursday 19 November. Three-course lunch £49 including half a carafe of Nouveau. Street party from 5pm, à la carte dinner. 129A Pritchard’s Road. Book lunch online.
Authentique Épicerie & Bar
Authentique gives you three days rather than one, 19 to 21 November, so it is the easiest to fit in. They have imported Domaine Gaget’s wines from Morgon for more than five years, and this year there are two Nouveaux to try side by side, “Wanted Gamay” and “Vinum Memoria”. The menu is short and classic: bœuf bourguignon, moules au vin rouge and tarte tatin. We have seen the photos of the bœuf and we are drooling.
Details: 19 to 21 November. Make a reservation here.
Half Cut Market
We go to Half Cut for wine all the time, so this is an easy one for us. It is their fifth Beaujolais night, and the formula is settled: Nouveau to drink in or take away, a longer by-the-glass list of Beaujolais, and French classics from the kitchen. Steak tartare, pissaladière, oeufs mayonnaise, and a classic éclair for pudding. The kitchen opens early, so there are 5pm tables if you want a few quick glasses before bedtime.
Details: Thursday 19 November. Kitchen open earlier than usual, with 5pm tables available.
Patron, Fortess Road
Patron is doing a tasting menu for the night, and it reads like a Lyon bouchon: cervelle de canut, saucisson tartare with quail egg, quenelle de Nantua in crayfish sauce, œuf en meurette, and pear poached in Beaujolais to finish. One menu, and only a handful of seats.
Details: Thursday 19 November. Tasting menu £64 per person, including a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau. Seating at 7pm. Booking online.
Provisions, Holloway Road and Hackney Road
Provisions is doing two different nights. Holloway Road is the one we go to, as it is closer to us, and it is calling its dinner Bistrot Nouveau, with guest chef Emily Chia in the kitchen for the night. Three courses for £39 is very good value, and there are two sittings to choose from. Hackney Road is a looser party from 6pm until late. They are pouring the 2026 Nouveau from Sandridge Barton in Devon, with Tom from the estate there on the night, plus Christophe Pacalet’s Nouveau for the French side. To eat there are tartines, baked St Marcellin, pâté en croûte, cheese and charcuterie.
Details: Thursday 19 November. Holloway Road: sittings at 6.30pm and 8.30pm. Tickets here. Hackney Road: 6pm until late.
Cadet, Newington Green
Cadet is doing things its own way with “Beaujolais Pas Nouveau”. There is no new vintage here. Instead they are opening Beaujolais producers from the bottle list by the glass, including Sebastian Morin and Les Valseuses, and introducing Domaine Croix-Charnay to the UK. Lyonnais dishes join the dinner menu: canut and radishes, smoked ox tongue salade Lyonnaise, saucisson brioche and quenelle de Saint-Jacques.
Details: Thursday 19 November. Book online.
Noble Rot, Lamb’s Conduit Street
Noble Rot’s Fête du Beaujolais is the one for meeting the growers. The tasting runs 4.30pm to 7pm inside and outside the bar, with Domaine Lapierre, Mee Godard, Domaine Chapel, Philippe Viet, Domaine Thillardon and Domaine Thivin all pouring. Henry Harris of Bouchon Racine is guest chef for dinner, and all ticket sales go to Action Against Hunger.
Details: Thursday 19 November. Book here.
Also on around London
Three more worth knowing about, all on Thursday 19 November.
- The Plimsoll, Finsbury Park. A Les Caves de Pyrene selection with bottles and magnums from Château Cambon and Jean-Claude Lapalu. The kitchen is cooking French and Lyonnais-inspired dishes to go with them.
- Toklas, Strand. £80 for a Beaujolais-inspired set menu, including a glass of Château Thivin Nouveau. The wine list also covers the Beaujolais crus.
- La Fromagerie, Marylebone. 7pm to 9.30pm, £65. Salade Lyonnaise or snails on toast, beef bourguignon, cheese and tarte tatin.
Wherever you end up, tell us where you went and what you drank.