Pubs and Bars / Reviews
Bar Buvette – bar review
It’s been an interesting year for Peter Taylor, a former chef, partner and wine buyer at Riverstation who spent the summer working at a restaurant in France which is so in the middle of nowhere that the nearest boulangerie is a 20-minute drive away.
But the Auberge de Chassignolles at the heart of a small village in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France has gained an enviable reputation for food and hospitality well beyond its walls.
Taylor has now returned to Bristol to rejoin his wife Max Ososki and open a pop-up bar in a former shop on Baldwin Street.
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Wine here is biodynamic and organic, many made by young producers in France who wouldn’t dream of putting any sulphites in their produce.
Served by the glass or bottle, even Taylor admitted that they won’t be to everyone’s tastes. These wines, unlikely to be found anywhere else in the UK, are dotted around the high-ceilinged room, mostly decorated with posters from wine fairs.
There are some particularly tempting looking magnums and even some bottles with handwritten labels. By the glass, prices start at £3.50 for the house red and white (also available in carafes) jumping to £35 for the priciest bottle – the Cotes du Jura 2011 Sous le Cerisier.
It may primarily be a bar but Buvette is also open during the day with sourdough toast from Hart’s Bakery, wonderfully runny jam made by Peter with thanks to a glut of fruit from his orchard in France, and coffee from Extract.
Most people will be drinking wine here, however, which can be accompanied by cheese or charcuterie – including meat from a pig that Taylor kept at Chassignolles which he now regrets giving a name to.
Sturdy wood and metal tables remain from the days when this was The Urban Graphic Shop. They are communal and perfect for conversation, with an assorted collection of stools you hopefully won’t be falling off after working through this exemplary wine list, with around 10 wines by the glass available at any one time.
With a license currently only until the end of January, Bar Buvette may not be here for long. But Taylor’s journey is certainly not yet over and depending on how well received it is by the people of Bristol, this pop-up bar could well transform into something more permanent.
Bar Buvette, 31 Baldwin Street, Bristol, BS1 1RG
Photos by Joseph Pymar
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