What can you tell me about Fino?
Fino was the first restaurant to be opened by the sibling restaurant team of Sam and Eddie Hart in 2003. They later went on to open the hugely successful Barrafina and then took over Quo Vadis where they recently lured Jeremy Lee as Head Chef.
Inspired by the food cooked by their Majorcan mother, as well as the food Sam Hart had enjoyed whilst living in Spain, their aim was to bring quality tapas to London. As the restaurant approaches its tenth anniversary, it's had a mild makeover. This means new marble flooring, modern air-conditioning and a new Maitre D in the form of Thomas Blythe who arrives here after a fifteen year stint at Fergus Henderson's St John's.
Where is it?
In Fitzrovia - just off Charlotte Street, on Rathbone Street.
Where should I meet people for drinks?
There are numerous places round here - the Charlotte Street Hotel, downstairs at Dabbous or the nearby Draft House Charlotte. But the bar in Fino is actually pretty big and the cocktails we had before eating were strong and good. Our Manzanilla Martini was delicious and came with a cocktail stick studded with olives and cured ham - alcohol and pig in one drink, how could that fail to please?
Where should I sit?
If you're a fan of counter dining - as we are - certainly one of the best places is up at the counter, watching the kitchen at work. This time we had a corner table for two which allowed us both to look out at the dining room. and the booths close to the counter are also highly prized.
Is there bread?
You have to pay for it - but knowing we were working through the menu, we decided to pass this time.
What should I order?
Looking at this menu it's hard to work out what to leave out and we might, just might, have over ordered.
We kicked off with potato and chorizo chips (£3.20) and moved swiftly on to the croquetas - among the best in London. Our ham croquetas (£3.60), studded with jamon were fabulous. We then jumped past the cold meats section to order diver-caught scallops, seared on the plancha. As they came served with beetroot (which one of us has a real aversion to) they very kindly gave us one portion with a heavenly chorizo cream.
Next up was salt cod fritters (£6.50), which we thought were just a leetle too salty, and an excellent tuna tartare served up with an avocado mousse (£9.50). Of the specials - the crab empanada came with an inspired raw celery salad which worked brilliantly against the rich crab pasty. And then it was time for the Fino sandwich - wind dried beef, swiss chard and Galician cheese - which is fast becoming as famous as the eel sandwich as Fino's sister restaurant Quo Vadis. We rounded this part of the meal off with an oozy black pudding tortilla (£7.40) and slice of crispy pork belly (£12.80).
After all that, you'd think we might skip the dessert menu, but no. We tried an exemplary Crema Catalana and a Fat Duck-inspired shot glass with warm dark chocolate at the top and cold white chocolate cream at the bottom. This was just the right dose of sugar to move us on to the digestifs, including owner Sam & Eddie’s Home Made Patxaran which is an anise liqueur infused with sloe berries, coffee, orange and cinnamon and quite lethal.
What about the wine?
The sommelier Jack Lewens really knows his chops when it comes to Spanish wines and the list here is a veritable treasure trove of wines you'll be familiar with and others you'll never have heard of before. We covered both angles with a Palacio de Fefinanes 2010 - an Albarino from well-known DO Rias Baixas followed by a Pirita 2007 - a red wine from British winemaker Charlotte Allen whose vineyards are in a stretch above the Duero river between Spain and Portugal and which was hearty enough to go well with both the black pudding tortilla and pork belly.
Overall thoughts
It's been an age since we'd last been to Fino and we tottered off into the night regretting having left it so long. Their new manager, Thomas Blythe, looks set to bring fresh blood to the restaurant and told us he was determined to get a little offal on to chef Nieves Baragán Mohacho's menu. We were surrounded by large groups of people having a bloody good time and it's not easy to see why. There's a reason why some restaurants fold quickly and others - like Fino - make it to the decade mark and beyond and that's down to good food and great service.
Hot Dinners were invited to eat at Fino. Prices were correct at time of writing.
