I’ve long been a fan of Brindisa at Borough Market and its little I-can-actually-book-a-table-and-not-wait-for-two-hours-for-one little sister in Soho. So when executive chef José Pizarro made a breakaway, it was time for a little tapas with the lovely Emma Lundin. His tapas and sherry bar, named, well why of course, José, is a tiny corner shop space à la Pepito at Kings Cross, all blackboards and barrels for tables with a small counter bar where you can see the chefs bubbling away behind. It almost easy to forget your actually on Bermonsey Street rather than in Barcelona, or Madrid or somewhere terribly cosmopolitan and continental – until a cab full of suits bundle in, braying.
I don’t need to tell you from the tidal wave of glowing reviews José has received that the food hit the mark and then some. The tomato bread smaked with that only-in-the-Mediterranean-could-tomatos-taste-so-heavenly flavour, a spoiling of cheesing and hams and chorizo and my personal favourite: mackerel escabeche. All nibbled standing at the bar while letting the most exciting conversation I’d had in a while sink in:
“Would you like some water, still or sparkling?”
“Oh we’ll just have tap.”
“Yes, they are both tap.”
Sparkling tap water! Amazing. And what’s even more amazing is that come the end of the month Pizarro is branching out with a proper sit down restuarant down the road, called, why of course, Pizarro. And I’m sure they’ll serve sparkling tap water there too… Oh, and it’s going to specialise in cavas. What more could you want? I’m there.
Photo: Emma Lundin
José
104 Bermondsey Street
London
SE1 3UB
020 7403 4902
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