SORRY Manchester, but Gordo thinks he's found the best looking restaurant in the North... and it's in Leeds.
Try the deconstructed gazpacho. Yes, yes, but it's actually genius, like LSD for the palette
Walking into the city's new Iberica (also in Spinningfields - review here), Gordo's socks were completely knocked 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 been 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, this is now the coolest bar in Leeds, if not the north of England.
The city's fantastic Friends of Ham also need to be concerned, because this lot have just out-hammed them. If you don't already know about the food at Iberica, then what's wrong with you? This is Spanish Spanish. The irascible, OCD-riddled Spanish owner, Marcos Fernandez Pardo, is less a restaurateur, more a curator. His attention to detail is phenomenal, his choice of exec chef in the two Michelin starred chef from Asturias, Nacho Manzano, is inspired. Which other two star chef in the world has a sister down the road with 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.
And yes we've got an Iberica in Manchester, a bloody good one... it's just Gordo, being the spoilt brat he is, now wants this one on his doorstep.
You can find Iberica Leeds at 17A E Parade, Leeds LS1 2BH. Tel: 0113 403 7007
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