The Spanish tapas restaurant that succeeds in London with a man from La Mancha at the helm of its kitchen

A few steps from Borough Market, London’s famous food market, in In a radius of around 300 meters there are four of the 20 restaurants that make up the The Harts Group. The Spanish-accented Mexican Al Pastor is joined by three others: the asador on the grill Bar Daskal, a charming wine bar and Barrafinathe first traditional Spanish restaurant to receive a Michelin star in London.

It is in the latter that they organize ‘Barrafina invitesa series of meetings that invite chefs from the peninsula to cook at home and share knowledge to spread our gastronomy beyond our borders.

Barrafina, the winning Spanish tapas bar in London

Barrafina is a refined Spanish tapas bar represented in five locations across London with different souls but the same philosophy. The one situated in Bourough Market is long, with a a marble bar, with twenty-three stools and no waiterswhere there are only cooks who prepare the dishes.

“We work closely with the fish suppliers, especially because they send us daily lists of what is in the market and its price. Anyway, now we are in two annual changes and in the future there may be more,” explained P. La Mancha from La Mancha.aco Torrico, executive chef of the ‘Spanish part’ of the Harts Group, who recognizes that change is also a challenge.

“Follow the the season is very easybut things clearly come with them delayed now by Brexit. Before, a product took three to four days to arrive, now it can take up to two weeks if it doesn’t have all the permits. In fact, earlier this year, we had problems with the beef we brought from Asturias and the supplier was stopped for almost four or five months because they didn’t have a veterinary license.”

“The price is also something very important. This is still a business and they ask you for something special profit for goods. Padron peppers work well, but there are times when we cannot charge a customer £30 for a carabinero. They don’t understand it, here they only see prawns on the plate,” shares Torrico, who misses products such as espardeñas, fully mature veal, or large turbot.

“We also play with the special ones. For me I love the offalmy favorite food is tripe, and I made them, but I learned that after you eat it you have to explain to them what it is so they can try it” he says of accepting some dishes at the center, where rice and potato bravas win.” I have to say that All the chefs who have come have congratulated us on the croquetteswhich fills us with pride. Maybe we’ll do it 12 and 15 liters of ham croquettes per day“.

Born in Ciudad Real, he spent time with Carlos Posadas training in the kitchens of Hotel Santo Mauro“From him I learned to appreciate cooking; to value the product; that every detail is important and that you had to give some feeling about what you were doing,” he said.

“I have always enjoyed being involved in the kitchen of my grandmothers, my mother, my sisters,” said this man from La Mancha, who has a family from “Manzaneras, La Solana and Argamasilla de Alba.” “This whole area is very rich in game. My father makes brutal game vessels. There was always a rabbit, a hare, a partridge in the freezer to throw around.”

Although Paco feels united with Spain, “It is very difficult to be a prophet in your own land. Here we appreciate if we receive thanks. We have a lot of strength when it comes to representing a country like Spain with honesty and its flavors. People here really appreciate it.”

He is happy to cook and tries to improve himself every day, to some extent, until Get back the Michelin starwho lost this year: “I think the Guide doesn’t really like these kind of subtle changes. The truth is that it was a hard blow not to reconfirm the star, but Barrafina also has a name in the UK and a reputation.”

Other ‘Spanish’ options from the Harts Group

On one of the faces of the corridor that connects to the Bourguh market, Barrafina stands in the middle of these corridors. three places Spanish from the Harts family. They are complementary and are connected to each other, on the right is Bar Daskal and on the left is Parrillan.

Bar Dascal It is presented as a haven for lovers Spanish wine, especially Sherrywith some snacks. It is one of the like to Anne Watkinsgeneral director of the Barrafina group, which belongs to the Harts Group. Watkins is the cousin of CEO Sam Hart, both grandsons of artist Vladimir Daskalofto which this corner of light pays homage.

on the grill lives up to its name with grills that dominate the room of this restaurant that make high quality Spanish products shine after grilling. They work whole fish, Galician steaks, rice and seasonal vegetables. They also offer grapes, sherry and caves by glasses and bottles.

Outside, its outdoor terrace under the brick arches of the Victorian railway is the perfect setting to enjoy the few rays of sunshine the city has to offer. Their little grills reach there so you can pass yourself. meat and seafood – the prawns are taken from Garrucha– for them.

Barrafina invites

In order to spread Spanish gastronomic culture, spread knowledge and highlight relevant projects at home, Barrafina has been organizing a series of meetings in which it hosted various chefs, including Miguel Caño, Borja Marrero, María Marte o Xavier Pellicer.

He was the last one to get behind the bar the brothers Iris and Bruno Jordán, chef and head waiter in front of Ansils, the restaurant by Sol Repsol that pays homage to its land. Located in Anciles, a small town in the Aragonese Pyrenees, where resources are scarce, but kilometer zero is possible, they recover ancestral recipes that their grandmother already served in the same place 40 years before .

The people of London and some lucky people who traveled to the British capital were finally able to withstand that ‘cover’ that made Iris the winner of the II Official Spanish Hospitality Competition of Tapas and Pinchos with his analysisPigeon made in spruce pickle‘fresh bite, balanced, elegant as well as rebellious, it has all that.

That was the starting signal for the dinners that continued until the past 22 and 23 October. “What an adventure, you don’t expect to be so well received, but it’s been a really good vibe,” said Iris, who joined her brother Bruno, her number two in the kitchen Rubén González and Camino Estrada, at the dinner. room, to London, leaving the restaurant closed until October 28.

“These meetings are to emphasize the work we do, but also to meet people with whom you share the same passion. It is very good to explain our philosophy, the philosophy of the people , and for them to understand,” said the chef, who was able to share Ansils’ story during a great class with him workers of the restaurants. Together with some of them, after the corresponding information and specific details, they went from providing 25 services to 76 in two shifts, “we have tripled the work, but the system likewise.”

Then came the fun ‘salmorejo’, from zucchini with trout tartare, “because the tomatoes don’t grow up in the garden”; the lamb steak tartare, in honor of transcendence; the amazing ones tripe made with morelsfrom day gizzard, appeal which values ​​the noblest and least valuable parts of the cow, “against extensive livestock farming and consumption of chops”, which they go with tupinambo puree, green beans julienne al dente. Do cocoa and beets work together? The answer lies in the big dessert that closed the dinner.

“It has been very important to see and trust in other hands“We have understood each other under the same code as gastronomy, because if something unites us, it is the love and respect of making a dish and serving it,” said Bruno about the experience that gave together two restaurants and two teams in harmony pantry setting green and whimsical at more than 3,000 meters to cement one with a different rhythm and language.

To give the album more meaning, they traveled to London with the dandelion that they turn into mountain capers; he lichenprehistoric algae that they use as decoration or the topinambur, which grows freely in the restaurant’s lawn “according to Iris, as they say in the town”the herbs“.

They were the ‘amulets’ that these two young men put in their suitcase, requirements like others to take care of these experiences that connect Spain with the United Kingdom. Like the quinces that Paco had to nixtamalize for “a week for Jordi, from Mugaritz” and other requests that the man from La Mancha had to take care of before their own chefs visited.