City workers may have been wondering when the hoardings were finally going to come off Hispania London - a massive restaurant and bar project which has been under wraps for a long time on Lombard Street. But now the doors are finally open(ish).
The whole project is the brainchild of Marcos Morán, who runs the Michelin-starred restaurant Casa Gerardo in Asturias and is best mates with Jose Andres who's pretty massive in the States.
The concept behind Hispania is still shrouded in mystery, but what we do know is that the 800 square metre space on two floors includes a ground floor tapas bar - serving up traditional and more creative tapas. There's also a deli, winery, sherry bar, dairy, library and store. Upstairs will be fine dining and an events space.
We don't know what exactly will be on the menu - but you can probably expect to see some of the dishes Moran's father made famous in Spain including fabada (a bean stew made with Asturias fabas, black pudding, pork fat and chorizo) and Casa Gerardo's fabled arroz con leche.
Right now the wine bar is open and serving tapas from 4pm while they're training up staff, with the rest of the place opening up over the coming weeks.
Hispania London is at 72-74 Lombard Street, London, EC3V 9AY
