What: A smart evening bistro on London’s Kingsland Road serving southern French and simple Spanish cooking in a relaxed setting.
Who: Bar Valette is the new project from The Clove Club chef-patron Isaac McHale, who has brought over alumni of his two Michelin-starred restaurant that’s located just round the corner. The kitchen is led by head chef Erin Jackson Yates who, before joining spent two years as head chef at Josh Niland’s fish restaurant Saint Peter in Sydney. Before her move overseas, she worked at two Michelin-starred restaurant Moor Hall, and first met McHale at The Clove Club, where she worked for two years. The dining room will be run by restaurant manager and sommelier Wilem Powell, who also spent time in Australia before returning to the UK.
The food: The cooking at Bar Valette replicates that found within San Sebastian’s pintxos bars as well as that on some classic French bistros. Almost developed as the antithesis of The Clove Club, dishes are far more rustic – although no less elegant - and have been made for sharing. Those familiar with The Clove Club will recognise its signature buttermilk fried chicken in pine, which is served as a bar snack alongside other options including devilled crab tartlets, barbajuans – small and light puffy fritters stuffed with swiss chard and ricotta - and grouse sausage rolls with greengage ketchup. These are followed by small plates such as a salad made with shaved raw ceps, hazelnut, rocket and duck liver; snails Madrid style with trotter broth, bacon and black pepper; and an Asturian pork and bean stew. Larger plates, meanwhile, include ad expertly prepared rabbit leg stuffed with rabbit farce and mushrooms; lamb chops served with a spicy mayo; and grilled smoked trout with a generous portion of cherry blossom hollandaise. Desserts are no less impressive and include an almost flawless chocolate mousse and cranberry clafoutis, both of which are designed for sharing, and a Basque-style gateau among other sweet dishes.
To drink: Powell spent three years at The Clove Club as sommelier and assistant head sommelier but who was most recently head sommelier at Quay in Sydney, where he ran the wine programme with a wine list of over 800 bins and team of nine sommeliers. While Bar Valette’s wine programme might be modest by comparison, Powell has had some fun highlighting often overlooked, indigenous varieties from southern France, Spain and beyond, with listings from Catalonia, the Balearics and the French Pyrenees. Beyond that, Bar Valette offers a strong selection of sherry and ’sherry style’ wines, including some rare bottles, and also serves sharing bottles of cider.
The vibe: McHale has had a hand in the restaurant’s design and has opted to keep things simple with whitewashed brickwork on one side of the 40-cover dining room and muted putty-coloured walls on the other, on which hang modernist and abstract artwork from William Scott, Sam Francis and Stuart Davis. The room also features a small counter and stool seating on which a collection of cakes and cheeses sit. The overall feel is a very convivial space in the Yellow Bittern style of restaurant design - ie not trying too hard – bit with a bit more polish.
And another thing: McHale is no stranger to The Kingsland Road site. It was previously home to The Clove Club alumnus Chase Lovecky’s Two Lights restaurants, which The Clove Club team backed. The restaurant closed in 2020 and has since been used by the team as a changing room and additional storage space.
28-30 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8AA