José Pizarro

I recently had a fantastic lunch at José, 104 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UB – the first English business I felt worthy of a post on COMPRA. It would seem that Bermondsey Street represents the antithesis of everything this blog has been set up to celebrate, but amid the gated communities, and businesses set up to cater for their needs, there is an island of genuine Spanish warmth. A tiny corner shop front houses José, a Tapas Bar owned by the Spanish Chef, José Pizarro. There are many things about José that lift it above the branded food tourism of so many London based Spanish restaurants. The first and most important is the food – authentic seasonal ingredients simply cooked ‘a la plancha’, and priced to reflect quality not exclusivity. On arrival we ordered a bottle of Albariño, as good as any I had in Galicia and a plate of Girolles, fried with shallots, on sour dough toast, topped with grated Manchego and mint. This was the first in a succession of dishes of simple perfection – the highlights of which were sweet succulent prawns with garlic and chilli and razor clams with chorizo. In an earlier post I talked about Rias Biaxas in Vigo being a place where all classes and professions were able to enjoy food of the highest quality and how in Spain restaurants like this are rarely exclusive or forbidding. Despite it’s up market location José has this same quality and as the afternoon progressed we became immersed in an environment that was as intoxicatingly convivial as any of bars I visited in Valencia, Coruna or Vigo. The size of José engenders this, as does the simplicity of its décor and a layout that forbids people from skulking away in corners. Another key factor is the staff, who seem to have an enthusiasm and a love for the restaurant that is born out of an investment beyond a weekly pay cheque. Our hostess Valentina managed to provide efficient, informative service, while always making us feel like she was enjoying the afternoon as much as we were. At the end of the meal we had a look through Jose Pizarro’s book on Seasonal Spanish Food and would have bought it, had we not blown most of our funds on Iberico ham and glasses Sherry to round off our meal. The first page of the book has a picture of José with his mum and dad, above the picture it says ‘para mis padres’ – this image seems to sum up the attitude of his business. (click images to enlarge)

Why COMPRA? 02

The idea for Compra was probably formed in one of 4 or 5 very long lunches in Restaurante Rias Biaxas (C. Rep. Argentina Nº, 2). It was very hot in Vigo and I got used to doing what Spaniards do. i.e at around 2pm stop whatever you were doing, go to lunch, have a glass or two of wine and then go home for a snooze. Rias Biaxas became where I went most days and in many ways sums up what I want to pay tribute to in COMPRA. Everyone eats in Rias Biaxas - from builders to businessmen to teachers. The food is of the highest quality, but presented without pretension. It is neither expensive nor cut price. There is no marketing strategy or target audience. No one is favoured, no one is excluded and the people who work there are part of the community. It seems a simple idea, but I know of very few restaurants like it in London. Here is an excerpt from my notebook that hopefully explains part of what COMPRA is about. ‘I found myself in Rias Biaxas again. I had prawns, razorclams and a chop. The TV blared some gameshow chaired by a camp short man with a goatee who seemed to have modelled himself on Graham Norton. I guess the appeal of wise cracking gay men is international! On the next table a couple tucked into a very expensive parillada of seafood. Visually they looked like what some people in England might refer to as ‘chavs’ or ‘white trash’. Lots of tattoos, unisex died hair, unisex beer guts and lots of brightly colored man made fibre. The woman was in her late 30’s and by the way they looked and behaved I imagined the man was her boyfriend rather than her husband. She looked like an extra from a porn film and had really obviously fake boobs. He had peroxide hair and around his wrist wore the sort of wristbands you get at a rave or a festival. They were loud and a little drunk, but from what I understood their conversation largely revolved around the quality of the food. I had tried to eat a parillada before and it takes a level of expertise not to look like an idiot. This couple were obviously experts and at the end of the meal the man very carefully (and very tenderly) demonstrated to his lover some very advanced crab shell clearing.’ Enjoying food is not just for Nigel Slater reading young professionals! (click images to enlarge)