The Allard Bakery & Bistro coming to former 100 Main location

Two years after opening The Allard Bakery & Bistro in Hudson, Brenda Mora-Tilem is bringing her French-inspired cuisine to downtown Valdese, where her second location will fill the former 100 Main Restaurant & Bar space.

The Allard Bakery & Bistro will open at Main and Rodoret streets this fall, with September as the target, she said.

The restaurant will breathe new life into a prominent corner that has been dormant since 100 Main Restaurant & Bar shuttered in January.

“We are not going to be another 100 Main,” Mora-Tilem said. “We are bringing our concept. It will be very different.”

Different indeed.

The menu will include dishes that otherwise would likely require a drive to Charlotte, she said. But that doesn’t mean everything will have big dollar signs.

“I want to be clear that we will have a wide range of prices, more so than what we have in Hudson, which is more of a boutique space,” the chef and business owner said.

The Allard’s Valdese location will be the kind of place to enjoy a cup of coffee and a croissant in the morning or a Wagyu steak in the evening, and a multitude of options between. Pasta, salads, soups, and sandwiches will be part of the expanded menu.

The larger footprint of the Valdese location will enable Mora-Tilem to offer a wider selection. Only two cooks can be on the line in Hudson, compared to six or eight in Valdese. The bakery will be larger and the full bar will feature crafted drinks and local beers.

“I’m really excited about the larger bakery display that will be right when you walk in,” she said. “And the historic building is so beautiful. The floors are gorgeous.”

The sensory experience will also include a viewing window. Passersby can watch pastry chefs at work from the sidewalk outside.

The Valdese restaurant will be the second Mora-Tilem has owned outright, though she has owned others with partners. Her 20 years of culinary experience include opening corporate restaurants and working with prestigious caterers.

She trained under Michelin-starred chefs, catered for the Grammy’s and opened locations of Mastro’s Steakhouse in New York and Washington, D.C.

She studied at the famed Le Cordon Bleu’s California location and is trained in both French and Japanese cuisine.

Chef Mora moved to Morganton about eight years ago, and it was the county seat where she was first interested in opening a restaurant. But Ryan Cook, the new owner of the building at 100 Main St. E, lobbied for her to consider Valdese.

Cook has plans to give the building’s exterior a facelift with new paint, patio seating, and signage while preserving the historic features.

A Morganton eatery, however, is not completely out of the question at some future point, she said. When circumstances align, a third location could become a reality.

When The Allard opens for business in Valdese, Mora-Tilem expects to begin with service from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday with the goal to eventually be open every day.