The chef Isaac McHale is going casual with a new European-inspired restaurant on Kingsland Road.
Best-known for his two Michelin-star restaurant the Clove Club, home to a £215 tasting menu, Bar Valette will be a la carte, taking cues from McHale’s love of simpler cooking from coastal France and Spain.
The Scottish chef said the food will be “considered yet informal”, while the dining room is to be designed for “interminable dinners fuelled by wine and sherry”. Sharing dishes will be encouraged and “comfort king”.
McHale told the Standard: “It’s inspired by a simple love of Spanish cooking, with French influences. It will be about amazing seafood and game, meat and dairy. We’ll be using the same producers as we do at the Clove Club and there will be some crossover.”
In charge of the kitchen will be head chef Erin Jackson Yates, who joins with other alumni from the Clove Club. Running front of house, meanwhile, will be restaurant manager and sommelier Wilem Powell.
McHale said there will be no ambitions to win a star, despite the high-flying team.
“We’re not going for a star, here, we’re going for good times,” he said. “We want to capture all that beautiful food from holidays and travel — fritters, venison meatballs, mousse and clafoutis.
“It gets me so excited. I got loose inspiration from La Marenda in Nice. I’ve built a superstar team to do it.”
Bar Valette will be near Jaguar shoes, a much-loved bar in Dalston, and McHale hopes it will be ready by mid-January.
On the way are bar snacks such as devilled crab tartlets, grouse sausage rolls, as well as buttermilk fried chicken with pine in homage to the Clove Club.
In the dining room, meanwhile, will be small plates such as raw ceps salad with a slow-cooked duck egg and rabbit leg stuffed with rabbit farce and mushrooms. Main courses such as pork chops, steaks, grilled trout and whole lobsters have been designed to share.
As for drinks, Powell has built a list for “wine lovers and novices alike”, with options for all price points from across southern France, Spain and beyond, as well as an extensive list of sherries. “Expect classic gems from the Rhône and Rioja alongside interesting listings from Catalonia, the Balearics and the French Pyrenees,” press material says.
Bar Valette will open in mid-January at 28-30 Kingsland Road, 8AA. @barvalette
