Summer in Bury St Edmunds has little in common with San Sebastián, even if both certainly entice food-lovers. A few months ago, however, Suffolk’s food capital welcomed a soupçon of fancy-pants Spain in the form of Bellota on Churchgate Street, not far from the abbey. Bellota bills itself as offering an “elevated tasting menu” (seven courses, and eight at weekends) and boasts only a maximum of 20 seats, all of them lined up around a counter overlooking married chefs Ruben Aquilar Bel and Gabriella Fogarasi at work.
On its website, Bellota promises to be “relaxed and welcoming”, which before going I severely doubted, because tasting menus rarely are: “I found the chef’s 657-word soliloquy on artichoåkes very relaxing,” said no one ever. However, on entering the restaurant on a recent Saturday and finding a room hewn in a rhapsody of calm browns and golds, and Fogarasi herself greeting us at the door, well, Bellota actually felt rather zen. There is a cosiness here that doesn’t at all feel like your average flash-harry fine-dining metropolitan joint. On a sold-out night of two sittings, there were a mere four staff working all evening. There were no hostesses leading us 40 steps to our seats, no pushy sommeliers, no kitchens stuffed with staff ostentatiously shouting, “Oui, chef!”
Bellota is homespun, sure, but it’s not remotely amateur-hour, and the meal service is gloriously well honed. Within mere moments of us taking our seats, warm loaves of Fogarasi’s sourdough bread appeared in cute hessian bags and with a glut of salted butter; we were offered more bread throughout the meal, just in case the tasting-menu portion sizes weren’t already sating enough. As Aquilar Bel talked earnestly about the txakoli he’d paired with his hake in salsa verde and escalivada vegetable raviolo, a satisfied hum of Suffolk folk eating good bread and butter enveloped the room.
Bellota’s genesis has been financed by Linda Keenan, who has connections to London’s well-loved Noble Rot and the Clove Club, and, although dissecting something as grubby as money is unappetising, her golden touch matters. Bellota may well be the brainwave of two relatively unknown chefs and tucked away in a quaint West Suffolk market town, but there’s something hugely beguiling going on here, and even verging on swaggering.
From the first snacks of hot, crisp, truffled croquetas – better than many I’ve tasted even in Spain – moving on to that masterful al dente raviolo stuffed with roast sweet red pepper and aubergine with just a touch of sherry vinegar, all dressed in a heavenly manchego sauce, it’s clear that this is a restaurant without so much as a hint of naivety.
A hunk of south-west coast hake is crisscrossed with sombre-looking squid ink and served with a fiery green pepper sauce, a piece of grilled langoustine, a padrón pepper and a few palourde clams. Next, rare slices of Creedy Carver duck on a silky puree of heritage carrots with a slick of rich duck jus. Each dish, as we finish it with a sigh, is swept away and replaced like clockwork with something else sticky, rich or magnificent. The chefs move purposefully and in relative silence, with no flapping, no fussing, no shouting and no underlings locked in the walk-in freezer for “banter”. Just fabulous food. How very modern indeed.
Bellota opened three months ago, and without much fanfare. Curious locals turned up, word of mouth spread, then people began travelling from around Suffolk, followed by the down-from-London brigade, me included. Twelve or so short weeks later, Bury St Edmunds’ residents – or the ones I met in the local shops, anyway – are now lamenting that they hadn’t booked sooner, and in the forlorn tones that are usually reserved for the likes of Noma’s summer season tables. After eating at Bellota, I now feel bad for them, too, because this small, almost perfect joint will most likely win a Michelin star very soon, and then it’ll be bonne chance for anyone wanting to try Gabi’s Thai green curry ice-cream with warm pistachio cake and confit apricots. Yes, you read that right: I did say Thai green curry ice-cream. And, yes, it works. Don’t try this at home, people.
In fact, all the sweet things here are done wonderfully, including the tantalising pre-dessert of monte enebro goat’s cheese with candied walnuts and glossy membrillo sorbet; rumour tells me there’s sometimes sourdough ice-cream, too. There are also some very good petits four, including immaculate black olive bonbons with a sweet tapenade filling. Yes to all of this, and to one of my top five openings of 2025.
Bellota, 43-45A Churchgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, 01702 844890. Open lunch Fri & Sat only, 12.30pm sitting; dinner Weds & Thurs 7pm; dinner Fri & Sat 5.30pm and 8pm. Seven-course tasting menu £75, eight-course menu £85, both plus drinks.
The next episode of Grace’s Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 26 August – listen to it here.
