By Samantha Thomas
Medill Reports

LONDON — Just steps away from the Embankment tube station at 47 Villiers St., Gordon’s Wine Bar is unassuming at first. With its dark wooden shuttered storefront, it looks like any regular grubby pub. But as you step inside, you’re greeted by a friendly smile and sent traveling down a steep staircase to an underground haven.

The space opens into a soft, glowing wine cellar buzzing with conversation. Aged wine barrels and framed black-and-white newspaper clippings from British moments in history (like The Daily Telegraph’s front page from the day Queen Elizabeth II was married) line the cracked, faded stone walls. It’s a good thing you drink once you get down there; navigating the thin stairwell in dim lighting might not be so breezy after a couple of glasses.

Founded in 1890, Gordon’s has been owned by two different Gordons, starting with vintner Angus Stafford Gordon and then passed on to Luis Gordon in 1972. They share the surname, but surprisingly have no familial relation. When the space was acquired by Luis Gordon in the’70s, his family was already a titan of Britain’s sherry business for more than 200 years as “Luis Gordon & Sons.”

Before its opening in 1890, the vaults of the restaurant were used to store salt, until the river was culverted and the building was repurposed to what it is today.

“Initially, (the bar) was upstairs. It had the main front window with shutters, and they opened onto the street and poured fortified wine,” manager Amanda Whiteside said.

When Whiteside first met the Gordon family, she was just a young girl. She grew up down the street from the family and now works at their wine bar as a manager, watching the business evolve across two decades. Gordon’s passed from husband to wife, Luis to Wendy, when Luis died in 2002. That’s when Simon, Wendy’s eldest son, got involved.

“He just thought it was a rather fun thing to have,” Whiteside . “He opened it between the hours of 5 and 9 on Friday for his friends, and then the business grew and expanded.”  Now, Wendy and Simon co-manage the restaurant and carry on the Gordon family spirit.

“People come and say, ‘I’ve been recommended by a friend from home,’ and they’ll be from halfway around the world,” said bar supervisor Gabriele Marini, who has worked at Gordon’s for the past two years.

Abdul Mohammed, a head runner at Gordon’s in charge of delivering beverages and meals to customers, has also worked at Gordon’s for two years. To Mohammed, the wine bar is a “second home.”

The dark, intimate cave is enticing and almost invites you to whisper as you sit down in wine barrel chairs and begin perusing the menu. Wax drips down long wick candles stuffed into empty wine bottles that sit atop rickety wooden dining tables. Lively conversation and flickering candlelight bounce across the curvature of the cave’s wall.

Every so often, the Tube rumbles gently beneath the dining space. The tight quarters create a comfortable sense of familiarity, as if sharing a meal with your table neighbors; even seated at a table for one, it’s impossible to feel lonely.

Gill Hastie and Shona Gibbon sit at a table across the cave; a long-distance mother-daughter duo, catching up over a glass of wine and a meal.

“I live in the highlands, and my mom lives in Glasgow,” Gibbon said, “so we decided to come down here for a Christmas present; to spend time instead of a gift. It’s nicer to spend time.”

The pair stopped into Gordon’s per a local friend’s recommendation.

“We had the Italian board, so it had to two kinds of cheeses and some salami and some pickles, and it was just delicious,” Hastie said.

“And really good value for where you are in London,” Gibbon said.

The two hadn’t caught up over a wine and cheese board in years, “but that’s what we love to do,” Gibbon said. “Have a long, long lunch and hang out.”

Gordon’s could not be more prime for an afternoon spent gabbing. The menu has an extensive international wine list, serving glasses from spectacular wine regions in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, and a comprehensive cheese selection to match.

The drink menu denotes vegan, organic, sustainably made and multi-vintage wines, offering a specialty for everyone. A glass of vino ranges from 8.30 pounds to 16 pounds, but if you’re looking to swig like a lush or split with friends, customers can splurge on a bottle, ranging from 29.50 pounds to 125 pounds.

The carefully curated food menu features a cheese-and-meat-charcuterie pairing list, cold plates with salads, meat and fish boards, and simple sides of peppers, olives and breads.

“A number of our cheeses come from a Sussex cheese maker, Alsop and Walker,” Whiteside said. The menu shuffles based on availability from a number of local and foreign cheese suppliers, according to Whiteside.

“From the beginning of March, we’re going to have our own section of vegan chesses that are made in East London in Hackney, and they are really good,” she said.

Those searching for a romantic table for two or a spot to curl up with a book and a drink will enjoy savoring Gordon’s thoughtful assortment of sips and bites in a beautiful ambiance.

Samantha Thomas is a magazine graduate student at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at @sammitamarie or on LinkedIn.