Barrafina Dean Street: Authentic Spanish Tapas from the Hart Brothers

It's a new era for Barrafina, but its tantalising appeal is unlikely to wane
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Fay Maschler12 December 2017

Apparently inspired by Barcelona’s Cal Pep, these tapas bars are the creation of the Hart Brothers, Sam and Eddie, in whose domain are also Quo Vadis and El Pastor. Bilbao-born chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho established the rigorously authentic style and introduced regional culinary tropes not seen before in London. Her departure to do her own thing — fair enough after 14 years working for the Harts, first at Fino — will, I believe, not leave Barrafina customers short-changed. I don’t observe queues shortening outside the three outlets, my favourite being Drury Lane because the wait is often more merciful and it is perfect for before and after theatre, ballet and movies. The venues are slickly kitted out and the dance of service skilfully choreographed. Sparkling, pristine fish can be combined with gnarly offal and grills of the day and bedded down in the basics such as tortilla and pan con tomate, which are notably carefully constructed. The Harts import their own manzanilla (bottled unfiltered), which is a good way to start as you mean to go on.

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