Basque restaurant group Sagardi to open first UK site
Basque restaurant group Sagardi is to open its first UK restaurant and its 30th overall in London's Shoreditch next month.
The new 141-cover venue will be at Cordy House, 87-95 Curtain Road, Shoreditch.
It will be divided into two spaces: a pintxos bar, where the Basque snack will be served with regional cider, beers and wines; and a restaurant featuring a central charcoal grill.
There will also be a street-facing standalone butcher within the restaurant.
The group, which was founded by Iñaki Viñaspre in Barcelona 18 years ago, has restaurants in numerous locations in Spain, Portugal, and South America, including Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Porto, Mexico City and Buenos Aires.
The menu at the London restaurant will offer produce from Basque farms and from the coast, all flown in daily from San Sebastian.
Typical dishes will include fried Txistorra sausage from Orio; grilled Biscay black pudding; Almalabra red tuna from Barbate; tartare with guindilla peppers from Ibarra; baby squid in ink sauce, cider house style salt cod; salted cod omelette Roxario style; veal sweetbreads with Tudella artichokes; and San Sebastian fresh grilled fish from the market.
Viñaspre, who is Spain's spokesperson for the cuisine of the Basque region and works closely alongside the Basque Tourism Agency promoting Basque culinary culture, said: "I'm delighted to be opening Sagardi in Shoreditch. London gastronomy has hit fever pitch but over the last few years, restaurants have simplified, with the focus shifting to the quality of each individual ingredient. My region's cuisine has always championed this practice and so hopefully Sagardi will find its natural new home here in London."
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