BRILLIANT BISTRO
Traditional French cooking meets big Yorkshire flavours at Horsforth’s brilliant new bistro, Bavette
‘Bavette is a love letter to all of our favourite places, the ones we’ve worked and eaten at,’ says Sandy Jarvis, who has opened Horsforth’s brilliant new French bistro Bavette with husband Clément Cousin. ‘We’ve drawn on parts of all of those places we’ve experienced, treasured or been lucky enough to be a part of and opened a bistro together – our favourite type of establishment. We couldn’t be happier.’
Since opening Bavette’s doors in February, diners have clamoured for a table at the new dining spot and, within weeks, the French bistro was inducted into the hallowed pages of the Michelin Guide. It’s unsurprising. The couple, who met at the much-lauded but now sadly closed natural wine bar, Terroirs, in Covent Garden, have serious culinary pedigree.
Sandy, Bavette’s head chef, has always been interested in food, watching his parents cook for parties and using food as a vehicle to bring people together. He swapped a degree in chemistry at the University of Manchester for life in the kitchens and went on to work for some of the country’s best, including at London’s Racine bistro and at the city’s Culpepper Family Hospitality Group, a group of pubs and restaurants, where he started as head chef but worked his way up to becoming the first managing director of the business.
Clément, restaurant manager and sommelier, formerly of The Buxton on London’s Brick Lane, and Simon Rogan’s Fera at Claridge’s, grew up in the Loire Valley and Bavette’s destination wine list will feature sips from Clément’s family’s vineyard, as well as other low-inter vention bottles from across Europe.
It’s fitting, perhaps, that the couple’s decision to move north from London to open their brilliant bistro happened over a glass of wine.
‘We were sat in our garden in London and Clément was running The Buxton at the time,’ says Sandy, who grew up in Wetherby and trained at the prestigious Leiths School of Food and Wine. ‘I could see he was slogging his guts out and thought maybe it was time for him to look at something fresh. I was feeling a little bit the same, it just felt right for both of us. I suggested moving up to Yorkshire, more in hope than belief, thinking it would perhaps make more sense to Clément to go to beautiful sunny parts of France, rather than the equally beautiful but less sunny parts of the north. As soon as I suggested it though, Clément was absolutely keen to do it. We love it here, exploring the Yorkshire Dales with our beagle, Ozzy, and we enjoy a nice life, with work-life balance.’
