About

I trained as a chef in Cáceres, Extremadura, gaining experience in local hotels and restaurants. I then moved to Madrid to the award-winning Meson de Doña Filo where I cooked nueva cocina and began my love affair with fresh, brightly flavoured dishes. I continued to develop this style after my move to London, working with the Eyre brothers prior to joining Brindisa.

I was the Chef Partner of the hugely popular Tapas Brindisa in London’s Borough Market for nearly 5 years. The Independent described it as the best tapas bar in Britain in 2007. In 2008 I also opened Tierra Brindisa in Soho and Casa Brindisa in South Kensington, both to critical acclaim.  I now have my own sherry and tapas bar, José on Bermondsey Street and a full-size restaurant called Pizarro a few of blocks down the street from there.

I’m inspired by local ingredients that I find in the food markets every day, the incredible quality of Spanish food stuffs that I have access to and, of course, my roots in rural Spain.

I have appeared on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and UKTVFood’s Market Kitchen and my first book Seasonal Spanish Food was published in October 2009 by Kyle Cathie.