Harvest time in Hackney

Clapton’s French brasserie and cocktail bar, Bonneville, is celebrating the annual grape harvest with a special Bordeaux night on Thursday 23rd October. The newly opened restaurant, which is designed around a dramatic cocktail bar salvaged from a French railway carriage, will be hosting a special £20 a head menu which will include:

Cheese Gougères

Soupe au Pistou

Roast Rib of Beef with sauce bordelaise

Crème Brûlée

Raspberry Macaroons 

Glass of Bordeaux

Serving a simple mixture of French and Belgian classics, Bonneville occupies a historic building on Lower Clapton Road and transports the visitor back in time with its striking décor inspired by turn-of-the century Parisian opulence. The new dining destination features an eclectic range of salvaged materials that give a feeling of grandeur and decadence, including a feature bar constructed from old French railway carriages, a skylight from the old Metropole cinema, Victoria, and other features rescued from historically significant buildings  such as Chartwell House (Winston Churchill’s family home) and the prestigious ship, HMS Powerful. 

Downstairs the toilets continue the sense of 19th Century escapism, this time using old East End London as inspiration, with a dark passage filled with smoke and ethereal music, exposed cobbled bricks and a door salvaged from Clerkenwell prison - all creating a sense that these are London’s most dramatic and theatrical toilets. 

Any impressions of style are more than met by the substance of Bonnevile’s food and drink offering. Head chef Oli Launay (l’Auberge de Chassignolles, Dock Kitchen, Moro and St John) cooks up a selection of unfussy French and Belgian classics including Terrine de Campagne with cornichons, Onglet with pommes frites and béarnaise and Toulouse sausage with chard, lentils and mustard butter. Sharing platters such as shoulder of lamb with pomme boulangere and samphire are a Bonneville signature and change based on which cuts of meat are available; the restaurants’ sourcing policy is to buy native breeds only from Swaledale, North Yorkshire, and to plan the menu based on the best cuts of meat, before braising the rest.

The cocktail menu is predominantly made up of classic, simple cocktails using fresh ingredients, which are juiced to order. Home-made syrups and bitters add authenticity to a menu which contains the Bijou, Last Word and Vieux Carre – a potent mix of rye whisky, cognac, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine and Peychaud’s bitters. A wide selection of beers come from Hawaii, USA and continental Europe and are available on draught and in bottles. The win list is seasonal and completely organic and biodynamic. 

Bonneville co-owner Ruairi Giles, previously co-owner of famed Victoria Park pub ‘The Hemmingway’, commented, “At Bonneville, the emphasis is on simple classics done well. We let our food and drink speak for itself. Our name comes from the French for ‘Good Town’ and we think that is what Clapton and ourselves stand for, a nice place with a welcoming atmosphere” 

Bonneville, 43 Lower Clapton Road, Hackney, E5 ONS.

W: thebonneville.co.uk