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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Entertainment
Robin Murray

Man who moved to Bristol from Malaga opens pop-up tapas restaurant

There's plenty of choice when it comes to top notch tapas in Bristol, with a number of restaurants serving one of Spain's proudest exports to a very high standard.

And there's now another one to add to the list after a pop-up opened its doors at Steam in Clifton last week, serving all the most traditional - and best - tapas dishes.

La YaYa is headed up by Francisco Perez Garcia, who moved to Bristol from Malaga six years ago to work in various kitchens across the city including The Alma Tavern.

Impressed with his cooking, Steam's bosses asked if he would like to take over the bar's kitchen, giving him free rein of the menu.

He jumped at the chance and will now be serving his tapas there for the next 12 months, with dishes including meatballs cooked in 'grandma's spicy tomato sauce', deep fried calamari, steamed muscles, Iberian cured ham and much more.

Customers can purchase three tapas dishes for £12 or five dishes for £19, excluding a few of the more premium offerings.

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"I've been given my own creative license here and I've decided to go with a traditional tapas menu," said Franciso, who goes by the nickname of Paco.

"Everything on the menu is fresh, even the parsley. I don't use any frozen or shop-bought ingredients.

"My grandma taught me how to cook from a young age and that's why the restaurant is called La YaYa, which means grandma in Spanish.

"It didn't take too long to form the menu as it's fairly basic but I spend a lot of time preparing it as everything is homemade.

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"It's gone down really well so far with lots of people giving me lovely feedback, so I'm looking forward to the next year ahead."

Steam can be found tucked away behind Clifton Down Station on Whiteladies Road.

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