GORDO is Confidential's bon vivant, food oracle and enforcer. Gordo does not do PC, Gordo spreads foie gras on PC and swallows it whole with a nice bottle of Château Mouton Rothschild @GordoManchester
THERE are few people in his life, on first meeting, that Gordo instantly knows would carry on to become great friends and in some cases, lovers.
Try the deconstructed gazpacho. Yes, yes, but it's actually genius, like LSD for the palette
One of the former is an irascible, OCD-riddled Spaniard named Marcos Fernandez Pardo, owner of the small but very significant Spanish restaurant chain Iberica. Gordo walked into his gaff in Farringdon a couple of years ago and nearly wept when he saw the hams. He then shook hands with Fernandez, whose gaze can strip rooms bare and make staff squirm.
Few men can carry off a V-neck cashmere sweater with such style. Disappointingly, he tried on that London businessman thing of expectation management, "Ok, we've got forty-five minutes..." That was at 12.:15. Eight hours later, Gordo was dropped off outside Euston, utterly pissed, with a new understanding of anchovies, Rioja and wives.
This instant coup de coeur happens with restaurants as well, but few and far between. Club 55 in St. Tropez, Eugenie les Baines in South West France and The Connaught in London are cases in point.
Gordo didn't expect it to happen in Leeds.
Iberica, Leeds
Walking into Iberica Leeds, the latest of Fernandez's offspring, completely knocked Gordo's socks off. It's in the old Bonham’s auction house. Steeped in character, walking through the front door is like walking into a house from García Márquez’s novel, Love In the Time of Cholera; effected decay, ripe fruit, muted colours, Brazilian hardwood, soft furnishings that have been worried over for weeks, and portraits across the wall give the aged feel of a couple of centuries.
It is beautiful.
The kitchen has turned into theatre. A broad, short flight of stairs above the dining room, where the true theatre happens, floods the room with atmosphere. Downstairs is a bodega. Yes dear reader, a fucking bodega. More Madrileño than Madrid, it's now the coolest bar in Leeds, if not the north of England.
Friends of Ham need to be concerned. Fernadez has out-hammed them.
The food? Read the Confidential reviews here, here and here. This is Spanish Spanish. Fernadez is less a restaurateur, more a curator. His attention to detail is phenomenal, his choice of exec chef in the two starred Michelin chef from Asturias, Nacho Manzano, is inspired. What other two star chef in the world has a sister down the road who has her own Michelin star? The food in Leeds reflects this pedigree and the local team should be proud.
Try the deconstructed gazpacho. Yes, yes, but it's actually genius, like LSD for the palette.
This is the firmest Gordo Go for a while.
