Chef Dara Klein launches her first standalone venue this week, opening Tiella Trattoria & Bar in a traditional mid-Victorian pub near Columbia Road flower market in east London – a follow-up to her extended residency at the Compton Arms in Islington, where Dara’s rustic Italian cooking earned widespread acclaim.
She has teamed up for the new project with an old friend from her childhood, Ry Jessup, a co-founder of Homeslice pizza and The Plimsoll in Finsbury Park.
Dara, who previously worked for Sager + Wilde, Trullo and Brawn, was born in Italy and grew up partly in New Zealand, where her father Richard founded Italian wine specialist Artigiano Imports. Richard has helped create the wine list for Tiella – which takes its name from a traditional circular casserole used in southern Italy.
The new venue, in Columbia Road, Bethnal Green, was originally known as The Globe and has been operated for the past two decades as the Stingray Globe Cafe, a family-run pizzeria/pub.
“There’s history in these walls,” Dara says, pledging that as custodians “we’ll look after this old gal. There’ll be pints pulled and you can prop up the bar, just this time you can have a bowl of rags. An incredible honour!“
Tiella has a 15-seat bar and a 30-cover dining room connected by an open kitchen, with a front terrace seating another 20 guests. Sample dishes include Chicken Milanese with green apple, celery, fennel, creme fraiche and fresh herbs, and bay leaf panna cotta with blood oranges.
There will be a soft opening tomorrow (Friday 16 January) and this weekend, followed by the official opening next Wednesday (21 January).
