Rufus Thurston launched Oli’s Thai with his wife Ladd in 2013, and followed up with tapas bar Arbequina, which he opened with Ben Whyles and Ben Bateman three years later. Harden’s caught up with him as he prepared to unveil a second branch of Arbequina in Oxford Covered Market later this spring. HARDEN’S: Oli’s Thai […]
Bar Kroketa, the tapas bar from the team behind Spanish import specialists Brindisa, has taken over José Pizarro’s former site in Broadgate Circus near Liverpool Street station, which it will open as its third and biggest branch next month. Chef/restaurateur José Pizarro announced the closure of his only venue in the City last December, after […]
London tapas group Camino has acquired two branches of rival Hispanic operation Ibérica, with the Farringdon bar to be relaunched under its new flag next week and the Victoria branch following suit next month. The remaining three Ibérica branches – in Canary Wharf, Marylebone and Leeds – all closed after the company fell into administration in […]
Brindisa Tapas bars have just celebrated their 25th anniversary. Harden’s caught up with founder Monika Linton HARDEN’S: Monika, many congratulations on the first quarter century of Brindisa Tapas – but the bars are just the tip of the iceberg, the most visible aspect of the import company you set up in 1988 to import Spanish food. […]
Leeds restaurant the Swine that Dines is launching a crowdfunder campaign to raise money for a move into bigger premises in the city centre. The Swine has developed from its original incarnation as the Greedy Pig Kitchen sandwich bar in Mabgate into a much-loved local restaurant under Jo and Stuart Myers, who win praise in […]
Harden’s caught up with José Pizarro as he celebrated 25 years in London. The chef has been a key figure in the development of Spanish cuisine in Britain, and now runs a small empire that stretches as far as the Middle East with an outpost in Abu Dhabi. But his true territory remains London, where he […]
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, […]
Tapas master José Pizarro is opening his fourth and smallest venue in Canary Wharf. Little José launches on April 6 at Street Feast’s new rooftop venue in Crossrail Place. Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, Little José will offer plates such as an Ibérico pork meatball sub with manchego; crispy fried squid ‘boca’ with aioli; spicy prawn fritters […]
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 […]
Bristol’s Sanchez Brothers opened Andalusian-inspired Paco Tapas this week, completing their trio of adjacent dockside venues a few minutes’ walk from the city centre. Casamia, the family’s fine-dining establishment, was no 4 on the Sunday Times/Harden’s Top 100 Restaurants list last year, winning praise from the Harden’s Survey for its “fabulous tasting plates”. It moved from suburban […]
