For Tatiana Fokina, CEO of Hedonism Wines, being a contemporary great British brand celebrates the union between what British brands are traditionally known for – high quality, integrity and superb customer service – with the ability to reach a truly global audience. ‘This is the remarkable thing,’ she says, ‘and for me, this cohesion of tradition and global appeal defines cult British brands. Our aim is to convey this across the brand ethos of both Hide and Hedonism.’
Hide is a new London Michelin-starred restaurant by the team at Hedonism Wines, which means that there isn’t a restaurant mark up on wines, just a corkage fee on top of its retail price, which makes the wine list not only one of the most extensive in the world, but a best value one. Wines can also be delivered from the Mayfair shop within ten minutes from its guests selecting them in the restaurant.
Regardless of all the current political uncertainty, the above restaurant will set out to obtain a second Michelin star. Hide’s head chef, Ollie Dabbous, works tirelessly to perfect and evolve the menus across both floors and is confident that the team at Above is the strongest it has ever been and can rise to the challenge. After all, he has cause for optimism since Hide was awarded multiple accolades in 2019 by The World of Fine Wine’s Wold’s Best Wine Lists, including Three Star Wine List, Best By-the-Glass Wine List Without Coravin® and Best Spirits List in the World 2019.
One customer wanted a whisky collection to be delivered to the airport on Christmas morning. The CEO and owner delivered the order themselves.
Hide has many clients who have become an almost permanent fixture there, returning again and again for something very specific. One international guest is particularly fond of the sausages that are part of Hide’s English breakfast. When he’s not in London he misses them so much that every couple of months Hide ships a special batch to his residence abroad.
Hedonism is a company with great ambition, forever looking to grow and look at new ways of diversifying its business model. In addition to its retail offering, Hedonism is currently exploring the opportunities of fine wine and whisky investment. It has just redeveloped its website and is predicting a growth in online shopping. As the world of wine becomes smaller, overseas customers from the US and Asia are increasingly shopping with Hedonism online.
Hedonism takes great pride in its customer service that goes above and beyond, to an almost concierge level. Once, a customer wanted a whisky collection to be delivered to the airport. This in itself was nothing extraordinary, apart from the fact that it needed to happen on Christmas morning. As the CEO and the owner at Hedonism are Orthodox and celebrate Christmas on a different date, they delivered the order themselves.
‘We believe that no matter what is happening in our world, British luxury brands will always do well – they are timeless and aspirational, allowing us to take comfort in turbulent times,’ says Tatiana. ‘I think optimism is a very necessary sentiment for this time.’
