The story
Sète is a wine bar, bottle shop and kitchen on Northdown Road in Margate, named after the coastal town in southern France. It opened as a wine bar in October 2022, with the restaurant and garden following in July 2023. The space draws inspiration from favourite Parisian wine bars, the southern French countryside and modern New York City influences. The result is an unpretentious, welcoming spot built around good wine, thoughtful food and the kind of evenings that feel a little special.
Behind Sète is Natalia Ribbe, who has worked in restaurants across Vienna, New York and London, and is also the founder of the female collective LOR. Her vision is clear: a place where wine is at the heart of everything, and where the food – seasonal, produce-led small plates with a modern European spirit – is designed for both a quick snack at the bar and a long, lingering supper.
The menu changes with the seasons. Dishes are built around what’s available, with a heavy French influence underpinning the Modern British cooking. Think Oast Bakery baguette and butter, Maldon oysters with rhubarb vinaigrette, vol au vent with potted shrimp or crème fraîche and seaweed caviar, and a changing selection of plates that might include torched bream with yuzu dashi or chicken schnitzel with green curry sauce. Saturday lunch brings moules frites for £10, served alongside the full à la carte. The Sète Menu, available Monday and Tuesday evenings, offers two courses for £22 or three for £25 – a generous way to eat well without ceremony.
The atmosphere is relaxed and convivial. Sète is equally suited to birthdays, hen parties and celebrations as it is to midweek suppers and Friday night crowds. There is outdoor seating in the garden, private hire options, and a takeaway service. The kitchen serves from 6pm on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, with Saturday lunch also available.
The wine list is built on stories. Every bottle champions producers who care deeply about their land and craft, with an emphasis on old world classics, accessible natural wines, female winemakers and exciting next-generation vintners. There is a seasonally changing list of wine on tap, and the bar hosts private tastings and monthly wine club events. Apéro hour, from 4-6pm, offers all wine by the glass for £5.
Sète’s commitment to quality and atmosphere has earned it a place in the Michelin Guide, recommended in 2026 – a fitting nod to a restaurant that delivers honest, memorable Modern British cooking with a French soul, all in a setting that feels both local and cosmopolitan.
Recognition
Ambience
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History
Diminutive, delightful and delicious, Natalia Ribbe’s dinky wine bar and restaurant is a place that firmly ticks the ‘intimate’ and ‘neighbourhood’ boxes. Well away from the tourist bustle of the old town, it’s a palpable hit with locals who come for the laid-back vibe, obliging service and Andy Lowe’s simple, good-value French-accented food. The compact kitchen-cum-dining room, with just 24 seats (there are a few more on the suntrap terrace, weather permitting), means that Lowe has to work single-handed within the confines of a small space, producing a short, flexible menu of appealing dishes that vary with the seasons. Everyone praises the vol-au-vents, a fixture since day one. Indeed, our mushroom version was a stonking success and proved good snacking with a glass of Grüner Veltliner (on tap). Hispi cabbage with polenta and agrodolce, and a perfectly timed Dover sole with salmon caviar and samphire (the pick of our lunch), sat easily alongside the likes of salt-cod brandade with guindilla chillies, pâté de campagne with pickles, and confit duck leg with lentils and green sauce. The sourdough bread comes from Oast Bakery, at the other end of Northdown Road, and for dessert look no further than brandy-laced plum clafoutis with vanilla ice cream – though we were momentarily tempted by the cheese plate. The wine list is a short, expertly curated list of natural and classic French, European and South African gems, arranged by style.
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