Victor Garvey to open Covent Garden wine and cheese bar

Chef-restaurateur Victor Garvey has revealed plans to open a wine and cheese bar in London's Covent Garden.

Sibarita will open on Maiden Lane, a few doors away from Garvey's modern Spanish restaurant Encant, on 9 June 2017.

The project is being delivered in partnership with Garvey's father, also Victor, who described it as "the kind of laid-back wine and cheese joint we like to go to ourselves".

Krisztian Palinkas, who has worked alongside Garvey for three years at Encant, will be the head chef.

The 26-cover restaurant will serve a menu of tapas-style dishes, including crispy ‘calamares a la Romana' with alegria pepper and toasted coriander; free-range chicken ‘chilindron' with crispy serrano ham salpicon; and oven-baked torta del casar cheese with farmer's market crudités and garlic bread.

The cheese selection will feature Picos de Valdeon Azul, La Serena and Tetilla, while charcuterie will be sourced from across Spain and include several varieties of jamon Iberico de Bellota 5J.

The wine list will feature all Spanish wines, with most available by the glass.

Garvey Sr said: "Since even before Victor became a chef and opened restaurants of his own, we said that when I retired from corporate life we'd start somewhere like Sibarita together.

"When this great site came up, so close to Encant, we knew that our moment had come."

"The thinking behind Sibarita's really simple," added Garvey Jr. "Stop by, find yourself a spot and settle in to enjoy some great food with a glass or two of something wonderful."

Garvey is also preparing to open Rambla on Dean Street in London's Soho. The 60-cover restaurant will focus on Catalan cuisine when it launches in September.

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