Sagardi opens in London
Traditional Basque Country restaurant Sagardi opened its first UK restaurant today at Cordy House in Shoreditch, London.
The brand, which is well known throughout Spain and Latin America, focuses on the Basque Country style of cooking.
Ingredients are flown in daily from farms and suppliers in San Sebastian, such as cuts of beef known as Txuletón.
Sagardi was founded in 1996 by head chef Iñaki Viñaspre. The menu is made up from recipes passed down through generations.
Dishes include Donosti-style pintxos (bread with a mixed topping held together with a cocktail stick); Tolosa style piquillo peppers; grilled morcilla (black pudding) from Vizcaya; veal sweetbreads with grilled tomatoes; farm's pork rib and Iparralde duck magret with cider apple; Biscay style stewed lamb trotters; Almadraba red tuna from Barbate with ratatouille; baby squid in ink sauce and cider house style salted cod.
Desserts on offer include peach in txakoli syrup with lemon verbena ice-cream; chocolate mousse and walnuts; apple pie in Sagardoz liqueur and blueberry cheesecake.
Cider takes prominence on the drinks menu, alongside regional beers and local wines, cavas, Champagne and Spanish sherry.
The interior of the 140-cover restaurant carries the theme of land and sea, using materials such as wood and stone. Within all Sagardi restaurants, a traditional fishing boat called a trainera hangs upside down on the ceiling.
There will also be a butcher at the entrance of the restaurants, where visitors can watch the preparation of the Txuletón cut of beef.
Sagardi is open from 11am to 11.30pm seven days a week.
Basque restaurant group Sagardi to open first UK site >>
Three-Michelin-starred chef Eneko Atxa's London restaurant set for September launch >>
Book review: Basque: Spanish Recipes from San Sebastian & Beyond >>
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