The restaurant, which is run by Sandy Jarvis and his husband Clément Cousin, opened in the Leeds town of Horsforth in March this year. It was described by The Good Food Guide as ‘the model of a perfect local restaurant’.
At the time, Jarvis said the restaurant was something the couple had always wanted to open together and and would serve “the food we really love and which I love to cook”.
“With Sandy and Clément’s backgrounds in some of London’s top establishments (Terroirs, where they met, is a strong influence), opening a restaurant together in an outer suburb of Leeds looked great on paper. But the way they’ve brought it to life – excellent bistro cooking, an adventurous, engaging wine list (including bottles from Clément’s family of organic winemakers in the Loire), and the energy and warmth of the team – make it irresistible,” says Chloë Hamilton, co-editor of The Good Food Guide.
“They’ve had 1st birthday parties and 90th birthday parties here. It has lit up the community.’
Bavette tops The Good Food Guide’s annual 100 Best Local Restaurants list, which celebrate independent restaurants from across the UK and is based on the results of more than 60,000 votes cast. Regional winners were Greyhound Inn in Pettistree, which won in the Central & East of England category; Mambow in London; Cibus in the North West of England; Fin & Grape in Scotland; Med in South East England; North Street Kitchen in South West England; and Inn at the Sticks in Wales.
“We are completely gobsmacked about winning the Best Local Restaurant Award. To be included in the top 100 in our first few months would have been a great achievement but to be the overall winners is such a huge honour and testament to all the hard work of the team since day one, so this is for them,” say Jarvis and Cousin.
“Our sign above the door says ‘a neighbourhood bistro’ and being a great local restaurant is everything we wanted Bavette to be. Thank you to everyone who has come through our doors over the past five months, you’ve made Bavette what it is.”
