Monika Linton, Brindisa

Written by: Neil Gerrard, Monday, February 16th 2015, 15:05

Brindisa Tapas Kitchens is set to open its first restaurant in Spain, not far from Barcelona's Boqueria market, in April 2015.
The 40-cover restaurant will be called La Volta Brindisa Bar Restaurante, and will allow Brindisa chefs and buyers to deepen their knowledge of the food culture of Catalonia, where Brindisa co-founder Monika Linton once lived and worked.
The new site takes its name from the term "la volta", meaning "arch" in Catalan, and related to one of the internal architectural features of the building, dating back to 1462, in which the restaurant is housed.
Linton said: "Opening in Spain is an incredibly important opportunity for us as having permanent roots in the city helps us to broaden our understanding of Spain and delve deeper into Spanish cuisine.
"Barcelona is one of the top three cities for experimental food and we want to be a part of this. We want to bring some of that excitement, vibrancy and knowledge to our chefs in the UK and keep what we do at Brindisa fresh and exciting."
Executive chef Josep Carbonell, who was on the opening team of Tapas Brindisa London Bridge in October 2004, will continue to be based in Barcelona and London, spending two weeks a month working alongside the team of head chefs in London, while maintaining a strong link directly to Spain, and overseeing the new Barcelona site.
The news came as Brindisa revealed more details about its fifth UK restaurant, which is to be called Morada Brindisa Asador, and will open in London's Rupert Street on 9 March.
The 75-cover site, which features a 360-degree bar and kitchen area, will be based around the Castilian tradition of roasting suckling pigs and lamb in a wood fired oven, known in Spain as an "asador".
It will open at 18-20 Rupert Street in Piccadilly with a menu focused around cooking over charcoal. Dishes will be prepared and cooked at the bar, in a Josper oven, or over a Robata grill, with an emphasis on meat, seafood and vegetables that have been grilled, roasted, stewed and braised.
Linton said: "Morada gives us a genuine opportunity to bring traditional dishes together in one kitchen – dishes that originate from the drovers of the central plateau to the open fires of farmhouses.
"Over the last 27 years I have had so many stunning meals in the villages and hills of Spain that are not based on tapas but on excellent wholesome ingredients. This is what Morada will put on the table."
Sample dishes from the menu include: wrinkled potatoes with mojo picon salsa; an assortment of skewers from the Robata grill; flame grilled vegetable salads; slow cooked gazpachos manchegos (a traditional game stew with unleavened torta); and Segovian roast suckling pig or Castilian roast milk fed lamb from the Josper oven.

Origin information: The Caterer