"On a buzzing evening, it’s easy to daydream that you are, in fact, Dan and this candlelit room with mismatched vintage wooden furniture is your actual dining room. Groups of friends sit or lean, clinking glasses, and for anyone uncertain, there’s the layman’s by-the-glass chalkboard that describes glasses like ‘hectic red’ or ‘turbo piss’. For everyone else there’s a decent, mainly natural selection in the fridges and on the shelves at this casual Dalston spot." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, daisy meager, sinead cranna
"In Dan’s, you’ve got a first date venue that’s homely but also hot, like John Krasinski. The Dalston wine bar has a board of by-the-glass options—so you can cut and run after one, or move onto glasses of ‘hectic red’ if things are going well. Exaggerating about your performance as an angel in your Year 3 nativity is hungry work, so get involved in a plate of comté too." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, sinead cranna
"Fire hazard status: rising in tandem with your ‘turbo piss’ consumption We all know that the sexiest candles are the ones wedged into biodynamic wine bottles with drippy little wax skirts. Dan’s, a charming Dalston spot, laughs in the face of sad little tealights. Instead, the salvaged, wooden sharing table is full of friends clinking glasses described on the menu as ‘turbo piss’, while mainlining tartare and crisps and revelling in the fact that it’s too dark to see anyone’s red wine lips. Nights here feel like popping over to a friend’s dinner party— the friend with a Le Labo and small plate habit." - heidi lauth beasley, sinead cranna
"On the wall at Dan’s—a great little neighbourhood wine bar in Dalston—there’s a framed poster of a red blob person sitting on a wine glass while holding a bottle of red aloft like it’s a microphone. It’s nice to see someone living your dream. This place feels like the buzzing living room of your coolest friend who has a thing for house plants and restoring original fireplaces. Sit knee-to-knee with someone you fancy, pick at a plate of comté, and let the handy, layman’s wine descriptors—think ‘easy skinsy’ or ‘turbo chilled red’—guide your order. If you prefer your ‘fun skinsys’ in a more sit-down, dressed-up setting, head to Dan’s Clerkenwell brother, Ken’s." - heidi lauth beasley
"Creating a charming bar that feels like the living room of your most candle-obsessed friend just two minutes from Dalston Junction is no mean feat. But Dan’s has done just that. There’s so much to like about this wine bar: the salvaged wooden sharing table; the groups of friends sitting, standing, and clinking outside; the layman’s by-the-glass board that describes glasses like ‘hectic red’ or ‘turbo piss’. Often we start outside with the sun shining and a bottle of chilled red, before moving into the flickering inside for a plate of comté." - jake missing, sinead cranna