Taking its name from a Mexican slang word for a Western person, El Bolillo will offer a tight sharing menu centred on tacos.
The pair are currently overhauling a site on Church Road and expect to open to the public in early September.
El Bolillo will precede a larger dual-concept flagship restaurant in central Brighton that will comprise an ambitious 16-seater chef’s table and a more casual small plates and cocktail restaurant that is expected to open towards the end of next year.
The Wiltshire-born Clarke has a top-flight cooking CV that is largely made up of one and two star restaurants including those run by chefs Martin Wishart, Brett Graham, Tom Aikens and Daniel Clifford.
His flair for development saw him employed as a development chef for the latter at his two Michelin-star Midsummer House restaurant in Cambridge.
More recently, Clarke has headed up top kitchens including Hackney’s Pidgin.
Originally from Italy, Salvetti has a background in five-star hotels working in F&B and operational roles.
The pair met while Clarke was doing a residency at South Lodge hotel in 2021 (Salvetti was GM at West Sussex hotel’s The Pass restaurant).
“This is actually the second project we were planning for Brighton & Hove but the site we’re going to do the other restaurant in is Grade II-listed and is going to take a while,” Clarke says.
“El Bollilo won’t be traditional taqueria but we’re going to be respectful to Mexican cuisine. The menu is based on our own experiences of being over there but I’m also going to throw in some techniques from my background in fine dining restaurants.”
Salvetti added: “We’re going to make it our own. There will be an element of refinement and a lot of thought has gone into everything we’re doing. We’re trying to bridge the gap between not being a slapdash casual restaurant and not being too fussy.”
Smaller plates at El Bolillo will include Porthilly oysters with pickled piparras, Peruvian marigold and sour cream; lamb belly skewers with black garlic al pastor paste and watermelon radish; and arctic char crudo with peas, peach pico de gallo and Mexican tarragon.
More substantial items on the launch menu, meanwhile, will include octopus with roasted peanut butter mole, orange and eucalyptus vinaigrette; and pork cheek with ox sauce, blood mole and plum pico served in a blood taco.
Spend per head on food is expected to be between £55 and £60 per person.
Designed by the pair themselves, the 30-cover restaurant will be clean and minimalistic with subtle nods to Mexico.
El Bolillo will be open for dinner from 6pm until late Tuesday to Saturday and for lunch only on Saturday.
A full interview with Clarke and Salvetti will be published early next month.
