Called Bar Valette, it will be located on Kingsland Road on the site of the former Two Lights restaurant, which was backed by The Clove Club team, and will be less formal than The Clove Club.
Launching under the direction of head chef Erin Jackson Yates and restaurant manager and sommelier Wilem Powell, both of whom have worked at The Clove Club, the 40-cover restaurant will take cues from McHale’s love of southern French and simple Spanish cooking, with some ideas and influences from The Clove Club’s back catalogue joining the menu.
Described as ‘considered yet casual’, the menu will feature dishes that are fresh take on old classics designed for sharing. Small plates will lean towards European recipes including a raw shaved ceps salad; slow-cooked duck egg with shaved chestnut and Trompette mushrooms; and rabbit leg stuffed with rabbit farce and mushrooms.
Mains will focus on large portions of chops, steaks and grilled fish for the table, such as White Park beef steak, aged for nine months on site; smoked grilled Wiltshire trout with cherry stone vinaigrette; dry-aged pork chops; and whole lobster, grilled and served with sides of sauté potatoes with duck fat and persillade.
A bar menu will also be available offering dishes such as devilled crab tartlets; barbajuans (stuffed fritters); venison meatballs; grouse sausage rolls with greengage ketchup; as well as The Clove Club’s signature buttermilk fried chicken in pine.
The drinks menu will have an emphasis on fine wines at all price points from the continent, alongside sherry and cider. The wine list is being curated by Powell, most recently of Quay in Sydney, and will draw inspiration from the European influence of the menu while highlighting often overlooked, indigenous varieties from southern France, Spain and beyond.
Bar Valette’s sherry offer will include rare bottles of Equipo Navazos and Bodegas de la Riva, while its cider will be served in large format, sharing bottles from some of the UKs top cider producers.
The restaurant will feature an open kitchen and have a relaxed vibe with tables topped with paper tablecloths, plaster walls, and bistro-style curtains.
“I hope Bar Valette will be a restaurant that people want to come back to over and over,” says McHale.
“The menu is exciting and different, and I can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been working on.
“As a chef it’s been really exciting to look at all the amazing produce we use at The Clove Club, and think how to cook things in a simpler way here.”