ARGUABLY the most eagerly anticipated opening of 2018, Tast Cuina Catalana will launch on Friday, July 20. This King Street restaurant will definitely offer what it says on the proverbial can – its name roughly translates as ‘Taste from the Catalan Kitchen.’
On the site formerly occupied by Quill and Suri, Tast will have 120 covers over three floors, with a casual dining and bar area on the ground floor, a first-floor dining room and a second floor with private rooms offering a tasting menu. As well as serving traditional Catalan starters and mains, the Tast menu will offer ‘tastets’ – small portions and nibbles to savour and to share.
Its profile couldn’t be higher. The menu, an authentic celebration of that region’s cuisine, is by multi-Michelin starred executive chef Paco Pérez, the individual backers include the Manchester City exec trio of Txiki Begiristain, Ferran Soriano and manager Pep Guardiola.
They have teamed up with the independent Fazenda group, whose directors’ passion for South American cuisine has made their award-winning ‘rodizio’ grilled meat restaurants in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh, hugely popular.
Paco is already patron-chef of two Michelin 2* restaurants – Miramar, in Llançà (its kitchen is our main picture) and Enoteca at the Arts Hotel in Barcelona, a city where he has six restaurants in all. He is also behind the Michelin 1* Restaurant Cinco at the Hotel Das Stue in Berlin.
His head chef at Tast will be Miquel Villacrosa (above), formerly head chef at Cinco after a year at Miramar. Miquel, 27, is a Catalan who grew up in Sant Hilari Sacalm, a small mountain town where he helped out in his parents’ restaurant.
Miquel told ToM: “Sant Hilari Sacalm is a small town, lost in the mountains, with a lot of water, mushroom culture and gamey gastronomy – so you can imagine how shocked I was my first time in Miramar. I fell in love with Paco’s vision of cuisine and of how he was as a chef and as a person – he cared for me like no one before.
“I consider myself an ambitious person and a passionate learner, who never gives up, who tries to be a good leader and to do things a bit better every day, as Paco has taught me. Whenhe asked me to be head chef in Manchester it was a challenge I just had to accept.”
The whole project started when City chief exec Ferran Soriano visited Miramar and asked Paco to consider Manchester, a city he had visited as an ardent football fan and which he recognised shared an innovative vitality with Barcelona.
When Paco visited this year’s Northern Restaurant Bar show in Manchester he recalled: "Things moved on, Pep got involved and we all agreed that maybe Manchester needs to understand Catalan food more. Pep is a great ambassador for Catalan food and wine and that's how it progressed."
Guardiola, Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain have each put their own money into Tast, but it goes beyond a financial investment, Paco told us: "He has a passion for food and drink and is very picky. He's very big on the details and focused on quality. He loves really good wine too, and understands how to build a good team, which is what we want to do in Manchester."
Paco plans to cook at Tast for a couple of days every three weeks. “I want to get to know Manchester and I'll be trying to incorporate some local produce into what we do. But the restaurant will be Catalan and some products you can only get there, so we will bring them over.
"What's our ambition? That people enjoy it. That we can show the best of Catalan food and drink, quite distinct from other regions of Spain, and that we can make everyone who comes in feels a bit special.”
More from Paco in his video interview with ToM’s own Matty White.
Catalonia is renowned worldwide for its gastronomy. Geographically diverse, it produces a variety of fresh, high-quality seafood, meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables. The Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees are the perfect environment for unique produce, and its distinctive cuisine benefits from French and Spanish influences. The region produces some of the best old world wines with renowned D.O.’s (Denominació d’Origen) including Penedès, Montsant, Empordà, Tarragona and Costers del Segre and one D.O.C (Denominació d’Origen Controlada), Priorat.
Fazenda director Robert Melman says: “We are hugely excited to be working with these amazing creative talents. Catalonia has a distinctive identity and culture from that of Spain and our ambition is to introduce people to its wonderful tastes and flavours. Paco’s reputation is immense and we will serve some of his and Pep’s favourite Catalan dishes, both traditional and with innovative modern twists.”
Tast Cuina Catalana, 20-22 King Street Manchester, M2 6AG. Bookings from July 1 on 0161 806 0547 or [email protected]
