Bar Valette

Isaac McHale is already responsible for one of Shoreditch’s most renowned restaurants with the two Michelin-starred The Clove Club, so we expect big things from the Scottish chef’s next project, a ‘considered yet informal’ à la carte spot inspired by his love of southern French and simple Spanish cooking, which opens round the corner on Kingsland Road in January. Bar Valette’s menu promises an array of bar snacks inspired by San Sebastian’s pintxos bars, plenty of hearty sharing dishes suitable for long, boozy dinners with friends, and one or two Clove Club signatures. It’ll also offer an extensive list of French and Spanish wines, plus craft ciders and rare bottles of sherry. You need only look at the perpetual queue outside Tollington’s to see how eagerly London has embraced Iberian bar culture of late, so we’d imagine the latest opening to service this trend will be popular from the get-go.