Barcelona! Catalan restaurant backed by Pep Guardiola to open in Manchester

An authentic celebration of Catalan food and wine will launch in June on King Street with the opening of Tast Cuina Catalana, roughly translated as ‘Taste from the Catalan Kitchen.’

The Fazenda restaurant group and Manchester City‘s Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano have teamed up with world-renowned Catalan chef Paco Perez for the new venture.

Tast will have 120-covers over three floors, with a casual dining and bar area on the ground floor, a first-floor dining room, and a second floor with private rooms offering a tasting menu.

Multi-Michelin star chef Paco is the renowned international patron-chef of two Michelin 2* restaurants – Miramar, in Llançà,  (Gerona), and Enoteca at the Arts Hotel in Barcelona, a city where he has six restaurants in all. He is also behind the Michelin 1* Restaurant Cinc at the Hotel Das Stue in Berlin.

Geographically diverse, Catalonia is renowned worldwide for its gastronomy, producing a variety of fresh, high-quality seafood, meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables. The Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees are the perfect environment for unique produce, and its distinctive cuisine benefits from both French and Spanish influences.

The region also produces some of the best old world wines with renowned D.O’s (Denominació d’Origen) including Penedès, Montsant, Empordà, Tarragona and Costers del Segre, and one D.O.C (Denominació d’Origen Controlada), Priorat.

As well as serving traditional Catalan starters and mains, the Tast menu will offer ‘tastets’ – small portions and nibbles to savour and to share. And despite the chef’s impressive record, Tast is not pursuing awards, they say, but will simply aim to create a warm, friendly and affordable atmosphere for anyone wishing to experience the best of Catalan food and drink.

“We are delighted to bring the Catalan cuisine to Manchester and to be part of the amazing team behind Tast,” said Paco.

Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano are among the investors in the restaurant. Acting in a personal capacity, the investors have teamed up with the independent Fazenda group, whose directors’ passion for South American cuisine has made their award-winning ‘rodizio’ grilled meat restaurants in Spinningfields, Leeds, Liverpool, and Edinburgh a success.

“We are hugely excited to be working with these amazing creative talents,” said Fazenda director Tomas Maunier. “Catalonia has a distinctive identity and culture from that of Spain and our ambition is to introduce people to its wonderful tastes and flavours.

“Paco’s reputation is immense and we will serve some of his and Pep’s favourite Catalan dishes, both traditional and with innovative modern twists.”