Abel Lusa, a Spanish pioneer in London

12/05/2012

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Spanish cuisine, wine included, is currently enjoying a moment of glory in the UK capital. In many cases, this phenomenon involves businesses that started up years ago and have, over the years, gradually carved a niche on the diverse and competitive London market, which boasts restaurants representing over a hundred countries. Abel Lusa arrived in London in 1993 and since then has managed to build a solid group of Spanish restaurants with which he has conquered London palates thanks to fine Spanish cuisine and first-rate quality products.

In the early 90s, after studying catering in his homeland, La Rioja, Abel Lusa worked in various Madrid restaurants including ‘El Amparo’, one of the most famous establishments in the Spanish capital. Once in London, and after forging a career in various establishments, he built up and opened ‘Cambio de Tercio’ from scratch. “My business partner and I had hardly any savings between us, and the bank wouldn’t give us a loan; so we bought second-hand kitchen equipment and plunged in at the deep end, with simple meals and tapas”, Lusa explained.

At that particular moment in time, Spanish cuisine had very little representation on the London restaurant scene; however ‘Cambio de Tercio’, with a focus on traditional recipes and a touch of ‘cuisine d'auteur’, began to carve itself a niche. Now, the restaurant is the group’s flagship and has incorporated allusions to new trends and techniques in gastronomy to its menu. The restaurant offers a tasting menu which changes every week and includes 500 different Spanish wines. In addition, the premises has just been expanded in order to accommodate more tables.

‘Tendido Cero’, opened in 2002, is a traditional tapas bar (“although made to our own specifications”), with a waiting list for bookings. ‘Tendido Cuatro’, opened four years ago, offers mainly fish and griddled sea-food, barbecue grilled meat, and above all, rice dishes and paellas. And last but not least, ‘Capote y Toros’ is a ‘ham & Sherry bar’, an authentic Andalucía tavern, with an impressive list of Sherries (120 in total, of which 55 are served by the glass) as well as live flamenco performances.