This Summer, Brindisa Shoreditch will host a series of Terraza Summer Sessions on its outdoor terrace, featuring Paella Marinera cooking masterclasses, live Spanish guitar, gin serves and spritz tastings with Fentiman’s tonic.
Every Saturday (12:30 – 3:30pm) throughout June and July, experts from Fentiman’s will be on hand on the terraza to host informal tastings, and to mix a selection of cocktails and serves. The team will be pairing their tonics with a different gin every weekend including; Spanish-made Gin Mare who will serve a Triple orange Spritz with Fentiman’s herbal tonic, mango and peppercorn; and London-based Sipsmiths who will serve their Summer Cup with Fentimans Rose Lemonade.
As guests sip away on their summer serves and snack on Brindisa’s signature picoteos, pans of paella will bubble away in the background. Head Chef Magi Perlas will be cooking al-fresco on the terrace, showcasing how to make Brindisa’s Alicante-style paella using single-estate bomba rice.
Distinctive of the Alicante region, Magi will gently cook the rice to produce a crispy ‘socarrat’ base before adding fresh, plump prawns, cuttlefish and mussels. For the remainder of the afternoon guests will feast on rice and relax in Brindisa’s own corner of Andalusia in Shoreditch.
Founder Monika Linton said, “When I first came to Spain in the early 1980s, back when its coastal bays were dotted with fishermen’s boats and its skyline marked with low-rise seaside cottages backing on to the hills, I worked in a seaside restaurant in Alicante.
'I was on the cold section fixing salads and desserts and would spend hours watching the Chef’s cook pan after pan of rice for those long lunches where the guests never seemed to leave.
'Unbeknownst to many, Alicante has a huge culinary heritage, with an emphasis on the art of rice cooking and seafood, pairing that with plenty of gin and tonic is our way of transporting our guests to the shores of Alicante''