Sandy Jarvis and Clément Cousin to open Bavette in Leeds
Jarvis, who opened The Culpeper in Shoreditch in 2014, where he led the kitchen during the first 18 months as head chef, will open neighbourhood bistro Bavette in Horsforth, Leeds, in February with Cousin, who will be the restaurant's manager and sommelier.
The seasonally-led bistro menu will feature classically-inspired dishes such as pork belly rillons, frisée salad and ravigote sauce; halibut, vin jaune sauce and buttered leeks; and Paris-Brest inspired by Jarvis’ time spent in kitchens including Racine and Terroirs.
The wine list will feature wines from Cousin’s family’s vineyard, as well as other low intervention bottles from across Europe.
Bavette is described as being ‘a true representation of the couple’s professional journeys and personal experiences, paying homage to the pair’s favourite bistros, many of which they have had the joy of working in’.
Yorkshire-born Jarvis worked his way up from chef de partie to sous chef and finally to head chef at Terroirs, working at the modern European restaurant and wine bar for five years. In 2014, he opened The Culpeper and later became a partner joining the Culpeper Family Hospitality Group board as operations director in 2017. He became the group’s first managing director a year later.
Cousin was born in France in a small village in Anjou in the Loire Valley and got his first restaurant job in 2012 at Terroirs where he met his Jarvis. He then worked at Robin Gill’s Clapham restaurant The Dairy before becoming sommelier at Simon Rogan’s Michelin-starred Fera at Claridge’s
He also held management roles at Naughty Piglets, The Other Naughty Piglet and Paradise Garage before being appointed restaurant manager at The Culpeper in 2018.
He then opened The Culpeper group’s neighbour bistro and hotel The Buxton on Brick Lane as general manager where he spent a further three years before moving to Brawn.
