Sagardi, a beacon of Basque gastronomy with restaurants in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, Porto, Mexico City and Buenos Aires, will open their first UK restaurant at Cordy House, 87-95 Curtain Road, Shoreditch EC2A 3BS, this July.
Sagardi in Shoreditch will be the 30th restaurant to open as part of the group specialising in traditional Basque country food and drink, initially found on farms and in taverns all over this amazing region.
The Sagardi menu for the new London restaurant will offer the best produce from Basque farms and its coast, all flown in daily from San Sebastian. Notable examples include “Txuleton” (beefsteak), codfish, “piquillo” peppers and the most wonderful lettuce hearts from Tudela.
Grupo Sagardi was founded by Vitoria-born and bred Iñaki Viñaspre in Barcelona 18 years ago. The first Sagardi opened its doors in the charming gothic quarter of Barcelona back in 1995. Since then Iñaki has tirelessly championed his beloved culinary heritage, opening branches of Sagardi all over Spain and South America. Now, luckily for us, it’s London’s turn.
Like all other Sagardi restaurants, the 141 cover London restaurant will be divided into two spaces: the Pintxos bar, with an excellent range of this beloved, moreish snack (a staple in the Basque country), served with the infamous Basque cider, regional beers and wines. The second space, the grill restaurant, is home to an impressive central charcoal grill. There is also a street-facing, stand-alone butcher within the restaurant, where the incredible sides of Galician beef hang imposingly from the ceiling, with cuts being prepared so that we can all enjoy this exceptional beef at home.
Restaurant dishes will include Fried Txistorra sausage from Orio, Grilled Biskay 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 of course the all important “Txuleton”, as well as San Sebastian fresh grilled fish from the market.