A Yorkshire-based restaurant, Bavette in Horsforth, Leeds, has been crowned as Britain’s best local eatery in The Good Food Guide’s annual 100 Best Local Restaurants list for 2024. The awards, which celebrate the creme de la creme of British dining, saw an overwhelming number of nominations from food enthusiasts nationwide, all eager to endorse their preferred dining spots. An impressive tally of 60,000 votes were cast, leaving the guide’s team of expert inspectors with the delicious duty of anonymously sampling a plethora of restaurants across the country. Closer to Teesside, Origin Social in Northallerton also made it into the top 100.
Bavette, owned by seasoned husband and husband duo, Sandy Jarvis and Clement Cousin, quickly became a favourite amongst Horsforth locals and diners from across Leeds since its opening in February 2024, reports Teesside Live. Both patrons and The Good Food Guide’s anonymous inspectors were “impressed with the natural ease and warmth of hospitality at the lively French bistro, backed up by Jarvis’ menu of authentic, beautifully executed French classics. Bavette’s owners, Sandy Jarvis and Clement Cousin (Image: The Good Food Guide) The consensus is that it has raised the game in this corner of Leeds and beyond, presenting the model of the perfect local restaurant. An impressive win and one that is richly deserved.”
Chloe Hamilton, co-editor of The Good Food Guide, lauded Sandy and Clement’s venture, saying: “With Sandy and Clement’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.” She added: “But the way they’ve brought it to life excellent bistro cooking, an adventurous, engaging wine list (including bottles from Clement’s family of organic winemakers in the Loire), and the energy and warmth of the team make it irresistible. They’ve had 1st birthday parties and 90th birthday parties here. It has lit up the community.”
Sandy and Clement expressed their awe at the award, stating: “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.” They went on to give thanks by saying: “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.”
