A Cardiff hospitality couple have launched two Spanish-influenced restaurants simultaneously and side-by-side at the Lakeside development by Roath Park, on the north side of the city. Bodega is a wine-bar and restaurant serving small and sharing plates of food cooked with fire and smoke, while Ballers is a pizzeria serving Neapolitan-style sourdough pizzas with a […]

Continue reading


Jersey-born chef Joe Baker is to open a wood-fired grill restaurant celebrating the island’s seafood and produce in St Helier, the capital, later this month. Pêtchi – which means ‘try to catch a fish’ in Jèrriais, or Jersey French – will occupy the first and second storeys of the historic Liberty Wharf building overlooking Liberation […]

Continue reading


Leading Birmingham chef Glynn Purnell has opened a tapas bar a street away from his flagship, Purnell’s, in the city’s business district. Plates by Purnell’s occupies the former site of Spanish restaurant Pinchos on Edmund Street. Last year Glynn, aka ‘the Yummy Brummie’, opened The Mount pub in Henley-on-Arden, his first venture outside the Birmingham, […]

Continue reading


A Spanish-Israeli fusion restaurant opened this week in a German-owned boutique hotel in Covent Garden. Penelope’s is named after the daughter of Hotel Amano co-founder Ariel Schiff (pictured, middle), who grew up between Tel Aviv and souther Spain. Dishes on the menu include Israeli-style paella with whole lobster, freekeh and gin-tomato sauce; Israeli sofrito combining […]

Continue reading


Spanish TV chef Omar Allibhoy is to open the sixth and biggest branch of his Tapas Revolution chain in Newcastle next month. The all-day contemporary tapas bar will serve a range of classic small dishes with ingredients sourced from small artisan producers in Spain, alongside Spanish wines, craft beers and what is claimed to be the […]

Continue reading


David Muñoz, the flamboyant Spanish chef who won three Michelin stars in four years for his Madrid restaurant DiverXO, is to open his long-promised London offshoot, StreetXO, in Mayfair in November. He aims to “shock, surprise and delight” diners through both the theatre and flavour of his Asian-inspired fusion dishes. StreetXO will be set up […]

Continue reading